plutosmyfav
<font color=deeppink>Has high hopes, high apple pi
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2002
- Messages
- 3,267
Cast: Me (39) DH (37) DD (13) DS (2 1/2)
Dec 4 Another day at Epcot
Today we devoted our whole day to Epcot. We started in Innovations again and played with the laptops and sent an email. Then we went over to the Land and had a nice early lunch. I had a stufed potatoe and DD had chicken parm. DS had pasta and DH ate all our leftovers. We walked right into a showing of Food Rocks and DS really enjoyed it. We didn't think to do a fastpass for the boat ride so we skipped it. Then we split up so DH could spend more time looking at the cars. Since it was a much nicer day I let DS play in the fountain. He was a riot. There were a few other kids playing but he was by far the bravest. He would stand on the center spout and giggle waiting for the water to come. He got completely soaked but luckily I brought a spare set of clothes. We really enjoyed having a stroller to lug the extra stuff. Then I took DD and DS on Ellen's since DD didn't see it on Monday. DH still wasn't done with his cars so the three of us headed back to the Land for ice cream. We used our Nextel phones to split up and get back together and it was great. The Direct Connect didn't work (not nationwide yet) but they gave us unlimited long distance for calling each other. We often used them to call when we were both at the meeting place and STILL couldn't see each other. Finally, DH took DS and they played outside of Figment's place and DD and I went in and played with the displays. We sent another email and decided against Honey I shrunk the Audience so we all headed to world showcase. I kinda wish we had done Spaceship earth again.
We split again in the World because DS spotted the train near Germany and there was no moving him. DD and I went window shopping. We took pictures of all the neat things we liked in the gift shops without spending a dime! I was shocked DD went for this sort of shopping. We really enjoyed each country. Our favorite show was the family of acrobats at China. They were incredible! But our favorite experience was in Africa. We were walking by and the Storyteller caught DS attention with his drum. DS was shy but the storyteller's wife got him to venture over to try out the drum. We all sat down and then other's joined and we participated in the telling of the story! We had a blast. They were really neat people. DS really took a liking to them, too. We wandered about WS for a while longer and then headed back to Epcot to enjoy the fountain for a while longer, take many more pictures and then we left around 8PM and went to TGI Fridays for dinner. When we got back I did laundry. It wasn't too bad, I walked over to the food court and got a cup of coffee and a praline and enjoyed sitting by the pool while the clothes dried. We check out tomorrow so my work is cut out for me. I stayed up until midnight packing and organizing for our last leg of the trip.
Dec 5 Goodbye to POR
We were so sad to check out! This has been such a wonderful resort. We loaded up the Durango and headed for MK. This time we didn't make it to the park until 10 AM. We stopped at the bakery on Main Street for breakfast (we love this place) and head to Mickey's Toon Town which we missed on Tuesday. DS loved it, but then again, DS loved everything-- even climbing on the cement benches!!!! I can't remember what order we did things but I believe the next stop was Fantasy land where we rode Pooh's Corner, the carousel, Tea cups, Peter Pan and Snow White again. Oh and Small World 3 more times! We went back to Frontierland and got FP for Splash mountain. DH and DS did Countrybear's Jamboree. DH also took DS on the train. He loved that. We ended our day with Tomorrowland with a few more rides on Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear and TA. We split a couple of hot dogs and ate snacks for lunch and snacked to hold us over for a late dinner.
Off to the Castle.
Now is is pouring rain. Not fun for unloading WAY TOO MUCH LUGGAGE. But I feel bad for the people who are at MVMCP tonight. It just rained and rained. We loved the Castle. It is so elegant (ok, maybe a tad gaudy). Our room was on the 8th floor overlooking the pool yard. The pool was beautiful but we didn't get a chance to use it. We loved the music in the room-- more Manheim Steamroller!!!.
By 9 PM we're settled in our room and starving. DS was too tired to go out again so DH stayed with him and DD and I went to Bennigan's for dinner and brought DH take home.
Dec 6: Island of Adventure
We left the Castle and stopped at IHOP for breakfast. We headed out for IOA and didn't make it past the NASCAR cafe for quite some time! DH just loves those cars. It was very chilly, drizzley and windy. Even though I packed tons of warm clothes, we ended up in the park with very little to warm ourselves. It was so low on crowds that most of the concession stands were closed. DH and DD started with Spiderman while I took DS to Zeuss landing. He loved it (of course). They did the Hulk and then met up with us and we all (including DS) did the Poisiden's Fury. We brought DS to this and he did alright. He loved the tunnel of water but didn't like the fire. Then DD and I headed for the Dueling Dragons Fire and Ice. DH took DS to Toon Lagoon. Then DD insisted I had to ride the Hulk so we headed back and again virtually no wait (maybe 5 minutes). It was way too cold to do any of the water rides. DH called me on the Nextel phone with a bit of a crisis. DS ran into the sidewalk fountain in Tune Lagoon and was soaked and shivering. Somehow DD and I ended up with the stroller in our last split. So we rushed to meet them, only to find I had only packed shorts and a T-shirt for DS in case it got hot. I changed him and wrapped him in my sweatshirt and we searched for a bathroom with a hand blower. I found one at Wimpys bathroom. It took me about 15 minutes, but I was able to dry his socks, pants and sweatshirt so we didn't have to leave the park. We ate lunch at Blondie's, the subs were good but overpriced. We stayed until closing and then had coffee and hot chocolate at Starbucks in Citywalk. We went back to the Castle and decided we were too tire to go back out so we ordered pizza. We had enough left over to bring to the park the next day for lunch (the room had a fridge at no extra cost).
Dec 7: Universal Studios/IOA Last day for parks
We stopped at Goodings for water bottles and bagels for breakfast and then headed to Universal Studios. We really enjoyed the atmosphere of US but found trying to plan to see shows very difficult, especially trying to split up. So we stuck to the rides. DD and DH rode Twister while DS and I walked around. Then DH and DD caught the horror makeup show and DS and I went on ET. DS loved it. I was worried he might be scared since he couldn't ride on my lap but he did fine in his own "bike"! Then we met up with DH and DD and DD wanted to ride ET so we went on it again (very little wait-- maybe 7 minutes). Then DH took DS to Barney's and DD and I went on MIB and Back to the Future. We loved both of them. After that we looked at the map and decided there really wasn't anything else that we were dying to see there so we headed over to IOA. It was a nice sunny day so we wanted to do the water rides. We were not disappointed! Bullwinkle's Ripsaw Falls was a blast. Jurasic Parks raft ride was awsome! We rode the hulk 5-6 more times and a few others. I never made it to Spiderman. DH said it was great. Next time! We stayed until closing and then shopped around Citywalk for a while before returning to the hotel. We got back to our room around 8 PM at which time we were starving. DH didn't feel like going out so I took the kids and we went to TGI Fridays again. I started packing at 10 PM and was up past 1 AM. We had to get up at 6 AM for our flight.
Dec 8: So sad to say goodbye.
Off to MCO and back home
We were worried that DS would have a hard time getting back to our mundane routines. When the taxi pulled up at our house he said "we're home, no more bye-bye". We went inside and he found his favorite trucks and started playing! No trouble transitioning at all. We were absolutely amazed. He headed back to daycare the next day with no problems. The rest of us were really dragging. Maybe next time we will return on a Saturday so we have one day to get back to normal before school and work.
We had a wonderful trip. I vowed that next time we're going to stay at the Contemporary-- even if only one night!!!! I just love that place.
Now I am in the process of organizing the digital photos and printing the really good ones. We took over 1,000 pics so there's a lot of work cut out for me! We love watching the slide show on the computer. I highly recommend going digital!!!
Dec 4 Another day at Epcot
Today we devoted our whole day to Epcot. We started in Innovations again and played with the laptops and sent an email. Then we went over to the Land and had a nice early lunch. I had a stufed potatoe and DD had chicken parm. DS had pasta and DH ate all our leftovers. We walked right into a showing of Food Rocks and DS really enjoyed it. We didn't think to do a fastpass for the boat ride so we skipped it. Then we split up so DH could spend more time looking at the cars. Since it was a much nicer day I let DS play in the fountain. He was a riot. There were a few other kids playing but he was by far the bravest. He would stand on the center spout and giggle waiting for the water to come. He got completely soaked but luckily I brought a spare set of clothes. We really enjoyed having a stroller to lug the extra stuff. Then I took DD and DS on Ellen's since DD didn't see it on Monday. DH still wasn't done with his cars so the three of us headed back to the Land for ice cream. We used our Nextel phones to split up and get back together and it was great. The Direct Connect didn't work (not nationwide yet) but they gave us unlimited long distance for calling each other. We often used them to call when we were both at the meeting place and STILL couldn't see each other. Finally, DH took DS and they played outside of Figment's place and DD and I went in and played with the displays. We sent another email and decided against Honey I shrunk the Audience so we all headed to world showcase. I kinda wish we had done Spaceship earth again.
We split again in the World because DS spotted the train near Germany and there was no moving him. DD and I went window shopping. We took pictures of all the neat things we liked in the gift shops without spending a dime! I was shocked DD went for this sort of shopping. We really enjoyed each country. Our favorite show was the family of acrobats at China. They were incredible! But our favorite experience was in Africa. We were walking by and the Storyteller caught DS attention with his drum. DS was shy but the storyteller's wife got him to venture over to try out the drum. We all sat down and then other's joined and we participated in the telling of the story! We had a blast. They were really neat people. DS really took a liking to them, too. We wandered about WS for a while longer and then headed back to Epcot to enjoy the fountain for a while longer, take many more pictures and then we left around 8PM and went to TGI Fridays for dinner. When we got back I did laundry. It wasn't too bad, I walked over to the food court and got a cup of coffee and a praline and enjoyed sitting by the pool while the clothes dried. We check out tomorrow so my work is cut out for me. I stayed up until midnight packing and organizing for our last leg of the trip.
Dec 5 Goodbye to POR
We were so sad to check out! This has been such a wonderful resort. We loaded up the Durango and headed for MK. This time we didn't make it to the park until 10 AM. We stopped at the bakery on Main Street for breakfast (we love this place) and head to Mickey's Toon Town which we missed on Tuesday. DS loved it, but then again, DS loved everything-- even climbing on the cement benches!!!! I can't remember what order we did things but I believe the next stop was Fantasy land where we rode Pooh's Corner, the carousel, Tea cups, Peter Pan and Snow White again. Oh and Small World 3 more times! We went back to Frontierland and got FP for Splash mountain. DH and DS did Countrybear's Jamboree. DH also took DS on the train. He loved that. We ended our day with Tomorrowland with a few more rides on Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear and TA. We split a couple of hot dogs and ate snacks for lunch and snacked to hold us over for a late dinner.
Off to the Castle.
Now is is pouring rain. Not fun for unloading WAY TOO MUCH LUGGAGE. But I feel bad for the people who are at MVMCP tonight. It just rained and rained. We loved the Castle. It is so elegant (ok, maybe a tad gaudy). Our room was on the 8th floor overlooking the pool yard. The pool was beautiful but we didn't get a chance to use it. We loved the music in the room-- more Manheim Steamroller!!!.
By 9 PM we're settled in our room and starving. DS was too tired to go out again so DH stayed with him and DD and I went to Bennigan's for dinner and brought DH take home.
Dec 6: Island of Adventure
We left the Castle and stopped at IHOP for breakfast. We headed out for IOA and didn't make it past the NASCAR cafe for quite some time! DH just loves those cars. It was very chilly, drizzley and windy. Even though I packed tons of warm clothes, we ended up in the park with very little to warm ourselves. It was so low on crowds that most of the concession stands were closed. DH and DD started with Spiderman while I took DS to Zeuss landing. He loved it (of course). They did the Hulk and then met up with us and we all (including DS) did the Poisiden's Fury. We brought DS to this and he did alright. He loved the tunnel of water but didn't like the fire. Then DD and I headed for the Dueling Dragons Fire and Ice. DH took DS to Toon Lagoon. Then DD insisted I had to ride the Hulk so we headed back and again virtually no wait (maybe 5 minutes). It was way too cold to do any of the water rides. DH called me on the Nextel phone with a bit of a crisis. DS ran into the sidewalk fountain in Tune Lagoon and was soaked and shivering. Somehow DD and I ended up with the stroller in our last split. So we rushed to meet them, only to find I had only packed shorts and a T-shirt for DS in case it got hot. I changed him and wrapped him in my sweatshirt and we searched for a bathroom with a hand blower. I found one at Wimpys bathroom. It took me about 15 minutes, but I was able to dry his socks, pants and sweatshirt so we didn't have to leave the park. We ate lunch at Blondie's, the subs were good but overpriced. We stayed until closing and then had coffee and hot chocolate at Starbucks in Citywalk. We went back to the Castle and decided we were too tire to go back out so we ordered pizza. We had enough left over to bring to the park the next day for lunch (the room had a fridge at no extra cost).
Dec 7: Universal Studios/IOA Last day for parks
We stopped at Goodings for water bottles and bagels for breakfast and then headed to Universal Studios. We really enjoyed the atmosphere of US but found trying to plan to see shows very difficult, especially trying to split up. So we stuck to the rides. DD and DH rode Twister while DS and I walked around. Then DH and DD caught the horror makeup show and DS and I went on ET. DS loved it. I was worried he might be scared since he couldn't ride on my lap but he did fine in his own "bike"! Then we met up with DH and DD and DD wanted to ride ET so we went on it again (very little wait-- maybe 7 minutes). Then DH took DS to Barney's and DD and I went on MIB and Back to the Future. We loved both of them. After that we looked at the map and decided there really wasn't anything else that we were dying to see there so we headed over to IOA. It was a nice sunny day so we wanted to do the water rides. We were not disappointed! Bullwinkle's Ripsaw Falls was a blast. Jurasic Parks raft ride was awsome! We rode the hulk 5-6 more times and a few others. I never made it to Spiderman. DH said it was great. Next time! We stayed until closing and then shopped around Citywalk for a while before returning to the hotel. We got back to our room around 8 PM at which time we were starving. DH didn't feel like going out so I took the kids and we went to TGI Fridays again. I started packing at 10 PM and was up past 1 AM. We had to get up at 6 AM for our flight.
Dec 8: So sad to say goodbye.
Off to MCO and back home
We were worried that DS would have a hard time getting back to our mundane routines. When the taxi pulled up at our house he said "we're home, no more bye-bye". We went inside and he found his favorite trucks and started playing! No trouble transitioning at all. We were absolutely amazed. He headed back to daycare the next day with no problems. The rest of us were really dragging. Maybe next time we will return on a Saturday so we have one day to get back to normal before school and work.
We had a wonderful trip. I vowed that next time we're going to stay at the Contemporary-- even if only one night!!!! I just love that place.
Now I am in the process of organizing the digital photos and printing the really good ones. We took over 1,000 pics so there's a lot of work cut out for me! We love watching the slide show on the computer. I highly recommend going digital!!!
