Cast of Characters:
Me47- WDW once in 1975,and again in the mid-80's(wow things have changed!! Disneyland in 1996.
DH47-never been to WDW. Disneyland in 1996
DD17-never been to WDW. Disneyland in 1996 on her 9th birthday DS7-never been to WDW. Fast becoming a Disney fanatic.
Date: May 21, 2004 (Friday afternoon, starting about 4:00)
We walked straight to the International Gateway and the first thing we saw through the turnstiles was Princess Aurora, Sleeping Beauty! You'd have thought DD was 3 years old she was so excited. DS was excited too. We picked up autograph books for the kids. Even DD wanted one. By the time we got back to Sleeping Beauty with the autograph books she was headed out. We started out our Epcot journey turning right through France. We walked straight through most of the countries, scoping out little things to do later. We ran right into Snow White and the Dwarves in Germany (I'm pretty sure it was Germany, but it could have been Norway), and DS's first autograph was from Snow White herself!! DD was too late to get up there in time. Next we rode The Maelstrom. It was a nice break from the heat!! Then we headed to Mexico, rode El Rio Del Tiempo and picked up some nachos for a snack.
Next we went on to Future World and found Test Track. The standby line posted wait time was over 30 minutes. I went over to Mission Space, picked up Fastpasses, and we got in the single rider line at Test Track. We all loved Test Track. By the time we got through that line, the Fastpass return time was upon us, so we went straight on Mission Space. DH has a few "issues", closed spaces is one of them. He didn't notice in the "training film" how the console of Mission Space moves toward you after you get strapped in and he had a HUGE claustrophobic attack as soon as that console "closed in" on him. When the screen turned to blue sky it helped, but he started the ride in "panic mode". We all loved it (except for the rocky beginning for DH), and pledged to ride it again. DS had begun his Hidden Mickey search, and claimed to already have about 5. I had pointed one out to him in Test Track.
We wandered a little after Mission Space. We were able to walk right onto Spaceship Earth as well as Ellen's Energy Adventure. Everyone enjoyed both of these attractions. By now, it was approaching 7:00pm. No, we didn't have PS's, but we did want to see Eric Burden and The Animals, who were playing at the American Gardens Theater in the World Showcase as part of the Flower Power concerts in connection with the Flower and Garden show. We took a Friendship Launch across the Lagoon and made it in time to get pretty good seats. As soon as the concert was over, we went to Matsu No Ma Lounge and had some great sushi, sashimi and tempura. We got out just in time to walk down to Italy and watch Illuminations! Everyone thought it was the perfect ending to our first day.
DH, who always thought I was "overplanning", commented that he now understood that if I hadn't studied and learned where things were and figured out in advance the things we wanted to do, we wouldn't have had such a great first day.
On the way back to Beach Club Villas, DH turned to me and said, "By the way, did I tell you I was elected Judge?"
The kids were too late to swim in the Stormalong Bay Pool, but they did go to the quiet pool and get in some swimming. DS was bragging about all his Hidden Mickeys, knowing his sis didn't have any. The next thing I know, DD comes in and says that her brother had swum up to her and, being the BOY he is, broke wind under water and as the bubbles came to the surface, he turned to his sis and told her, "Thar's a Hidden Micky for ya'!!"
Me47- WDW once in 1975,and again in the mid-80's(wow things have changed!! Disneyland in 1996.
DH47-never been to WDW. Disneyland in 1996
DD17-never been to WDW. Disneyland in 1996 on her 9th birthday DS7-never been to WDW. Fast becoming a Disney fanatic.
Date: May 21, 2004 (Friday afternoon, starting about 4:00)
We walked straight to the International Gateway and the first thing we saw through the turnstiles was Princess Aurora, Sleeping Beauty! You'd have thought DD was 3 years old she was so excited. DS was excited too. We picked up autograph books for the kids. Even DD wanted one. By the time we got back to Sleeping Beauty with the autograph books she was headed out. We started out our Epcot journey turning right through France. We walked straight through most of the countries, scoping out little things to do later. We ran right into Snow White and the Dwarves in Germany (I'm pretty sure it was Germany, but it could have been Norway), and DS's first autograph was from Snow White herself!! DD was too late to get up there in time. Next we rode The Maelstrom. It was a nice break from the heat!! Then we headed to Mexico, rode El Rio Del Tiempo and picked up some nachos for a snack.
Next we went on to Future World and found Test Track. The standby line posted wait time was over 30 minutes. I went over to Mission Space, picked up Fastpasses, and we got in the single rider line at Test Track. We all loved Test Track. By the time we got through that line, the Fastpass return time was upon us, so we went straight on Mission Space. DH has a few "issues", closed spaces is one of them. He didn't notice in the "training film" how the console of Mission Space moves toward you after you get strapped in and he had a HUGE claustrophobic attack as soon as that console "closed in" on him. When the screen turned to blue sky it helped, but he started the ride in "panic mode". We all loved it (except for the rocky beginning for DH), and pledged to ride it again. DS had begun his Hidden Mickey search, and claimed to already have about 5. I had pointed one out to him in Test Track.
We wandered a little after Mission Space. We were able to walk right onto Spaceship Earth as well as Ellen's Energy Adventure. Everyone enjoyed both of these attractions. By now, it was approaching 7:00pm. No, we didn't have PS's, but we did want to see Eric Burden and The Animals, who were playing at the American Gardens Theater in the World Showcase as part of the Flower Power concerts in connection with the Flower and Garden show. We took a Friendship Launch across the Lagoon and made it in time to get pretty good seats. As soon as the concert was over, we went to Matsu No Ma Lounge and had some great sushi, sashimi and tempura. We got out just in time to walk down to Italy and watch Illuminations! Everyone thought it was the perfect ending to our first day.
DH, who always thought I was "overplanning", commented that he now understood that if I hadn't studied and learned where things were and figured out in advance the things we wanted to do, we wouldn't have had such a great first day.
On the way back to Beach Club Villas, DH turned to me and said, "By the way, did I tell you I was elected Judge?"
The kids were too late to swim in the Stormalong Bay Pool, but they did go to the quiet pool and get in some swimming. DS was bragging about all his Hidden Mickeys, knowing his sis didn't have any. The next thing I know, DD comes in and says that her brother had swum up to her and, being the BOY he is, broke wind under water and as the bubbles came to the surface, he turned to his sis and told her, "Thar's a Hidden Micky for ya'!!"
