We got up a little later because we had decided to take a cab to the Grand Floridian for the 1900 Park Fare Breakfast with Mary Poppins and Friends.
The Grand Floridian is very grand and charming. We liked the ambiance. The buffet at the Park Fare was quite nice. My daughter was enticed by those Mickey waffles, but she did not like the taste. My husband was pleased with the array of food. I enjoyed a made-to-order omlette.
The characters who circled around were Tigger, Pooh, the Mad Hatter, and Alice. Mary Poppins arrived while we dined and remained in the vestibule to meet and greet children and their families. We had a tour planned in MK and, given our earlier MK day, we decided to make sure we left ample time for travel (in case of mistaken directions) as well as park entry (we had only experienced early entries and no after park opened entries). So, we did not rush, but did not linger at the breakfast. In retrospect, for those who are curious about booking a tour about 1 hour and 45 minutes later than a PS at a nearby resort, we ended up with about 30 minutes to "hang" in MK.
My daughter did not know what the Family Tour was in the Magic Kingdom. We arrived early, got Peter Pan label name tags, were cordially offered coffee and waters. The meeting place was next to the City Hall. Thank goodness it was easy to spot. While we waited, my daughter noticed that there were confetti-like Mickeys scattered all over the area where we waited. She set about searching and gathering these little mickeys. One of the guides challenged us to find a hidden mickey there. My husband found it almost immediately. My five year old and I found it with more hints and prompting and then blatant directions. We wandered over to the nearby square and met Daisy Duck. Then, we went back to gathering more of these mickey confetti-like pieces.
Soon, once a couple more families arrived, our tour guide, Mitch, who was quite pleasant and as we later discovered rather great at facilitating play, began our tour of "garbage cans" and the entire waste collection system in the park. It was so convincing that I told my daughter that I had hoped it would be another type of tour, but let's go with it. My husband also reported that he began to believe this scenario. But, an important phone call interrupted Mitch's orientation. He told us that there was an emergency, that our tour of the garbage cans had to be cancelled because Peter Pan had stolen Hook's hook and Hook was threatening to take over the park and only let pirates come to it unless, well, he needed volunteers to fight Hook and recover the hook and save the park. So, of course, the parents volunteered ourselves and our families. A map with clues from Tinkerbell had to be discovered in the area where we were. Mickey Mouse confetti-like pixie dust (which was the pieces my daughter had been collecting from the ground --- I should have received a tour discount since she saved dollars for the clean up!) had to scattered about us by the four little children and the big boy seven year old (who had to defend his maturity during most of this tour, with lapses in which Mitch, the tour guide, had asked him to take on a more macho sort of group responsibility). Then, we were off to save the kingdom, romping all over it, with shenanigans and goofy fun following the clues and performing feats. Among the more memorable ones were riding the TTA and looking for a black granite ball which bore a clue, taking hops, skips and jumps to the next locale in a row of 25 abreast in the center of the walkway in Tomorrowland, sneaking up in Cosmic Rays from the back of the dining area on hands and knees to surprise Sonny Eclipse and running out of the joint, making wishes at Cinderella's Well and looking up to see how we were having a positive effect as the pirate flag raised at the castle (during a show there -- perfect timing) lowered, playing follow the leader from the castle back to Frontierland where each of us had a turn to offer a character and movement to perform that we all would imitate, until finally, Peter Pan and Wendy burst out of the Liberty Tavern with Hook's hook and thanked us for saving the MK. Peter Pan made every child a lost boy or girl and handed out certificates about this status. We all took pictures of our children with the characters. Peter and Wendy invited the children and their family to ride It's A Small World in a boat together. The 4 young children were taken by the hands of each character and we walked through the turnstyle exit of the attraction. Pan told us to wave if people gawked at us. We were off, trying to find a green turtle and monkey. We learned their names. We did a couple of waves, we waved at people, we crowed. It was quite memorable. When we met up with Peter Pan, it rained, but we were having too much fun to care.
When we finished that tour, there was some time before our next special event at 1:30. It was 12 pm. So, my daughter went shopping for a costume. She's quite taken with Tinkerbell since she played her in her preschool's rendition of Peter Pan, but she did not like the costume. She likes the glitter, the sequins, etc. The current Jasmine costume had it hands down. We bought that and a Mouseketeer type mouse hat with embossing for her and a friend back home. Since her next event was Alice in Wonderland's Tea Party at the GF 1900 Park Fare, I asked her if she would like to wear the Jasmine costume.
We were at the GF in a flash on the monorail, gaining confidence in the location already. She donned the harem look and looked quite cute. It was too big, but the CM hostess located a safety pin, which only added to the bigness of it. We got to see the table setting. It was really quite lovely, a menagerie of child charactertype things and live flowers and colorful small tea china. There were little cookies on the table. We all took pictures of it. We were given beepers, which impressed me, and sent out of the "private party". There were mostly girls, by some young gentlemen joined the party. It was quite festival, some with costumes, some in nice clothing, some in casual attire. We were told that we should come in at 2:30 since there would be a surprise waiting.
My husband and I got poolside, gameroom type grill service and then sat a spell in the GF lobby. Soon, it was time to pick up our children and see what surprise awaited us. When the doors opened, they were all feigning to be asleep. I thought we were supposed to kiss them or something and pretend our way through Sleeping Beauty, but as we approached, they yelled, "Surprise" and handed a parent, usually, mother a bouquet of flowers. It was actually quite sweet. I later learned that they had played some games and worked as a team to determine how to make and give these bouquets. Apparently, the sleeping pose was one girl's suggestion. She was rather pleased. Alice and the Mad Hatter had this intimate tea party with about 20 children. We were pleased to see how special it was for her.
We got back to the Dolphin and met up with a major Pfizer convention in the lobby. My husband was told that there were 3500 people attending. We somehow managed to get to the elevator. We changed clothes and were able to honor yet another dream of my daughter's on this day, to swim in the pool and slide down the slide before heading over to Marrakesh for dinner (or if you were my daughter, who made this dining selection, for belly dancing).
We really enjoyed the slide, especially our little one. She was bouncing with excitement like Tigger when we strapped the complimentary life jacket onto her. After several swims and several slides, we returned to the room for her bath and our showers prior to our 5:30 PS in Morroco.
I must add that it was great to have the stroller with us on our day in AK having had no chance for our stroller in MK the day before (remember? it was left in the limo?). Well, during the day, we certainly did not need it, but we knew it would come in handy at Epcot. The walk to Epcot from the Dolphin without the stroller is 15-20 minutes, depending on your speed. For us, with the stroller, it was 20 minutes. Around this time, I learned about a sheet at the Dolphin with transportation options to various places. Boy, was it a good thing that we took a cab to 50 Prime Time on our first fiasco of a day, MGM, where the 50 Prime Time is located is not listed as a bus destination from the Dolphin. There's only the boat and walking as is the case with Epcot.
We strolled over to Epcot. Len had suggested about 20 minutes at each country. In France, we purchased the kidcot passport, got a goofy scavenger hunt guide, and received the mask on the stick on which to collect charms and stamps from each country. We arrived the customary 10 minutes early for our PS and were seated showside just as the dancer began her show. My daughter, with me going for support, got her first lesson in bellydancing. She was shy at first, of course. We ordered lamb with couscous to split. My husband got a delectible chicken dish. He and I split an appetizer plate for two. He enjoyed the meat pastries very much. I had a mint iced tea. My daughter enjoyed the lamb and the couscous. These are among some of her favorites among her diet. (I have a child with some exotic tastes -- my side of the gene pool, and some very simple, quite particular tastes -- my husband's side, we think?) Anyway, before the food came and after the show was over, I suggested that my daughter join me to the bathroom. She claimed she did not need to join me. So, of course, the food came while I was away and guess who suddenly needed a trip to the little girl's room? Needless to say, I was annoyed. Still, once I calmed down and began to enjoy my nearly warm food, she wanted my assistance urgently to do the puzzles for older children who read on the placemat. I was ready to strangle her, but caught myself remembering how intense a day she had. Still, we compromised. She did the writing and I assisted while I ate with words. The show began again. She watched as two girls joined in. I encouraged her to join. She did so, with some hesitation. They were having a grand old belly dancing time. MY daughter improved (?) and from time to time on the rest of the trip tried the isometrics of the head from side to side with her hands over her head for a frame. Total strangers would gape. It was amusing.
We lingered to long to make 20 minutes seem realistic to newcomers. The truth is, in retrospect, we could have had 20 minutes at each place. What my daughter was interested in, of course, was getting the charms at each place and the stamps. So, we strolled around and glanced here and there. My husband joked that he never knew Norway and Mexico were so close together. It was one of those jokes that we were sure was not original, but nevertheless apt to us as we explored the park. We rode the Maelstrom. Len was wise to have us do this in the evening. There was absolutely no ride. Our daughter wanted to do it again and again. My husband, who is a social studies teacher thought the ride had some redeeming cultural relevance. We rode the ElRio del Tiempo. It was blander, but was quite pleasant. We got to the benches near the Cantina of Mexico and did my husband's favorite activity sat and hanged and ate mickey ice cream bars. Eventually, the Illuminations was announced. It was very bright fire and smoke during the first part. My eyes teared, but it was lovely all the same. Once the fire turned into fireworks, it was a spectacle that was much easier on my eyes. I enjoyed the music/script that accompanied the visuals. It was a bit corny, but it is a beautiful message -- the reminder of the universal flame, the human spirit and what humans share in common on this planet, across all cultures and countries.
My husband and I started to wonder during our tour of the countries, however, how countries were admitted into this park as exhibitors and how other were out of the park, not represented. We started to ask Epcot CMs and they confessed that they did not know. It got to be a game, asking Epcot CMs this question.
After the fireworks, we started out of the park, having not seen the map for exiting prior to this moment by following the crowd. This is a big mistake if you're at an Epcot resort. By the time I saw we were gaining fast on the Spaceship Earth, it was difficult to turn around. The good news is, as we got back via Canada and UK, there was hardly any crowd remaining and we took a peaceful but full boat back to our resort.
I was still coughing up a storm, discouraged that my two month cold had yet to subside and got more tea in that refillable mug. My husband who also had one now enjoyed a coffee while we mused about this and that. Our next day was a day of R&R, sorely needed and the next eve was a parents night out. We looked ahead to some of that. My daughter was fast asleep soon after her head hit the pillow, unaccustomed as she is to late nights.
We really had a lovely, magical day.
The next installment is our R&R day at the Dolphin. All Dolphinites or potential Dolphinites might want to read it.
KIS
The Grand Floridian is very grand and charming. We liked the ambiance. The buffet at the Park Fare was quite nice. My daughter was enticed by those Mickey waffles, but she did not like the taste. My husband was pleased with the array of food. I enjoyed a made-to-order omlette.
The characters who circled around were Tigger, Pooh, the Mad Hatter, and Alice. Mary Poppins arrived while we dined and remained in the vestibule to meet and greet children and their families. We had a tour planned in MK and, given our earlier MK day, we decided to make sure we left ample time for travel (in case of mistaken directions) as well as park entry (we had only experienced early entries and no after park opened entries). So, we did not rush, but did not linger at the breakfast. In retrospect, for those who are curious about booking a tour about 1 hour and 45 minutes later than a PS at a nearby resort, we ended up with about 30 minutes to "hang" in MK.
My daughter did not know what the Family Tour was in the Magic Kingdom. We arrived early, got Peter Pan label name tags, were cordially offered coffee and waters. The meeting place was next to the City Hall. Thank goodness it was easy to spot. While we waited, my daughter noticed that there were confetti-like Mickeys scattered all over the area where we waited. She set about searching and gathering these little mickeys. One of the guides challenged us to find a hidden mickey there. My husband found it almost immediately. My five year old and I found it with more hints and prompting and then blatant directions. We wandered over to the nearby square and met Daisy Duck. Then, we went back to gathering more of these mickey confetti-like pieces.
Soon, once a couple more families arrived, our tour guide, Mitch, who was quite pleasant and as we later discovered rather great at facilitating play, began our tour of "garbage cans" and the entire waste collection system in the park. It was so convincing that I told my daughter that I had hoped it would be another type of tour, but let's go with it. My husband also reported that he began to believe this scenario. But, an important phone call interrupted Mitch's orientation. He told us that there was an emergency, that our tour of the garbage cans had to be cancelled because Peter Pan had stolen Hook's hook and Hook was threatening to take over the park and only let pirates come to it unless, well, he needed volunteers to fight Hook and recover the hook and save the park. So, of course, the parents volunteered ourselves and our families. A map with clues from Tinkerbell had to be discovered in the area where we were. Mickey Mouse confetti-like pixie dust (which was the pieces my daughter had been collecting from the ground --- I should have received a tour discount since she saved dollars for the clean up!) had to scattered about us by the four little children and the big boy seven year old (who had to defend his maturity during most of this tour, with lapses in which Mitch, the tour guide, had asked him to take on a more macho sort of group responsibility). Then, we were off to save the kingdom, romping all over it, with shenanigans and goofy fun following the clues and performing feats. Among the more memorable ones were riding the TTA and looking for a black granite ball which bore a clue, taking hops, skips and jumps to the next locale in a row of 25 abreast in the center of the walkway in Tomorrowland, sneaking up in Cosmic Rays from the back of the dining area on hands and knees to surprise Sonny Eclipse and running out of the joint, making wishes at Cinderella's Well and looking up to see how we were having a positive effect as the pirate flag raised at the castle (during a show there -- perfect timing) lowered, playing follow the leader from the castle back to Frontierland where each of us had a turn to offer a character and movement to perform that we all would imitate, until finally, Peter Pan and Wendy burst out of the Liberty Tavern with Hook's hook and thanked us for saving the MK. Peter Pan made every child a lost boy or girl and handed out certificates about this status. We all took pictures of our children with the characters. Peter and Wendy invited the children and their family to ride It's A Small World in a boat together. The 4 young children were taken by the hands of each character and we walked through the turnstyle exit of the attraction. Pan told us to wave if people gawked at us. We were off, trying to find a green turtle and monkey. We learned their names. We did a couple of waves, we waved at people, we crowed. It was quite memorable. When we met up with Peter Pan, it rained, but we were having too much fun to care.
When we finished that tour, there was some time before our next special event at 1:30. It was 12 pm. So, my daughter went shopping for a costume. She's quite taken with Tinkerbell since she played her in her preschool's rendition of Peter Pan, but she did not like the costume. She likes the glitter, the sequins, etc. The current Jasmine costume had it hands down. We bought that and a Mouseketeer type mouse hat with embossing for her and a friend back home. Since her next event was Alice in Wonderland's Tea Party at the GF 1900 Park Fare, I asked her if she would like to wear the Jasmine costume.
We were at the GF in a flash on the monorail, gaining confidence in the location already. She donned the harem look and looked quite cute. It was too big, but the CM hostess located a safety pin, which only added to the bigness of it. We got to see the table setting. It was really quite lovely, a menagerie of child charactertype things and live flowers and colorful small tea china. There were little cookies on the table. We all took pictures of it. We were given beepers, which impressed me, and sent out of the "private party". There were mostly girls, by some young gentlemen joined the party. It was quite festival, some with costumes, some in nice clothing, some in casual attire. We were told that we should come in at 2:30 since there would be a surprise waiting.
My husband and I got poolside, gameroom type grill service and then sat a spell in the GF lobby. Soon, it was time to pick up our children and see what surprise awaited us. When the doors opened, they were all feigning to be asleep. I thought we were supposed to kiss them or something and pretend our way through Sleeping Beauty, but as we approached, they yelled, "Surprise" and handed a parent, usually, mother a bouquet of flowers. It was actually quite sweet. I later learned that they had played some games and worked as a team to determine how to make and give these bouquets. Apparently, the sleeping pose was one girl's suggestion. She was rather pleased. Alice and the Mad Hatter had this intimate tea party with about 20 children. We were pleased to see how special it was for her.
We got back to the Dolphin and met up with a major Pfizer convention in the lobby. My husband was told that there were 3500 people attending. We somehow managed to get to the elevator. We changed clothes and were able to honor yet another dream of my daughter's on this day, to swim in the pool and slide down the slide before heading over to Marrakesh for dinner (or if you were my daughter, who made this dining selection, for belly dancing).
We really enjoyed the slide, especially our little one. She was bouncing with excitement like Tigger when we strapped the complimentary life jacket onto her. After several swims and several slides, we returned to the room for her bath and our showers prior to our 5:30 PS in Morroco.
I must add that it was great to have the stroller with us on our day in AK having had no chance for our stroller in MK the day before (remember? it was left in the limo?). Well, during the day, we certainly did not need it, but we knew it would come in handy at Epcot. The walk to Epcot from the Dolphin without the stroller is 15-20 minutes, depending on your speed. For us, with the stroller, it was 20 minutes. Around this time, I learned about a sheet at the Dolphin with transportation options to various places. Boy, was it a good thing that we took a cab to 50 Prime Time on our first fiasco of a day, MGM, where the 50 Prime Time is located is not listed as a bus destination from the Dolphin. There's only the boat and walking as is the case with Epcot.
We strolled over to Epcot. Len had suggested about 20 minutes at each country. In France, we purchased the kidcot passport, got a goofy scavenger hunt guide, and received the mask on the stick on which to collect charms and stamps from each country. We arrived the customary 10 minutes early for our PS and were seated showside just as the dancer began her show. My daughter, with me going for support, got her first lesson in bellydancing. She was shy at first, of course. We ordered lamb with couscous to split. My husband got a delectible chicken dish. He and I split an appetizer plate for two. He enjoyed the meat pastries very much. I had a mint iced tea. My daughter enjoyed the lamb and the couscous. These are among some of her favorites among her diet. (I have a child with some exotic tastes -- my side of the gene pool, and some very simple, quite particular tastes -- my husband's side, we think?) Anyway, before the food came and after the show was over, I suggested that my daughter join me to the bathroom. She claimed she did not need to join me. So, of course, the food came while I was away and guess who suddenly needed a trip to the little girl's room? Needless to say, I was annoyed. Still, once I calmed down and began to enjoy my nearly warm food, she wanted my assistance urgently to do the puzzles for older children who read on the placemat. I was ready to strangle her, but caught myself remembering how intense a day she had. Still, we compromised. She did the writing and I assisted while I ate with words. The show began again. She watched as two girls joined in. I encouraged her to join. She did so, with some hesitation. They were having a grand old belly dancing time. MY daughter improved (?) and from time to time on the rest of the trip tried the isometrics of the head from side to side with her hands over her head for a frame. Total strangers would gape. It was amusing.
We lingered to long to make 20 minutes seem realistic to newcomers. The truth is, in retrospect, we could have had 20 minutes at each place. What my daughter was interested in, of course, was getting the charms at each place and the stamps. So, we strolled around and glanced here and there. My husband joked that he never knew Norway and Mexico were so close together. It was one of those jokes that we were sure was not original, but nevertheless apt to us as we explored the park. We rode the Maelstrom. Len was wise to have us do this in the evening. There was absolutely no ride. Our daughter wanted to do it again and again. My husband, who is a social studies teacher thought the ride had some redeeming cultural relevance. We rode the ElRio del Tiempo. It was blander, but was quite pleasant. We got to the benches near the Cantina of Mexico and did my husband's favorite activity sat and hanged and ate mickey ice cream bars. Eventually, the Illuminations was announced. It was very bright fire and smoke during the first part. My eyes teared, but it was lovely all the same. Once the fire turned into fireworks, it was a spectacle that was much easier on my eyes. I enjoyed the music/script that accompanied the visuals. It was a bit corny, but it is a beautiful message -- the reminder of the universal flame, the human spirit and what humans share in common on this planet, across all cultures and countries.
My husband and I started to wonder during our tour of the countries, however, how countries were admitted into this park as exhibitors and how other were out of the park, not represented. We started to ask Epcot CMs and they confessed that they did not know. It got to be a game, asking Epcot CMs this question.
After the fireworks, we started out of the park, having not seen the map for exiting prior to this moment by following the crowd. This is a big mistake if you're at an Epcot resort. By the time I saw we were gaining fast on the Spaceship Earth, it was difficult to turn around. The good news is, as we got back via Canada and UK, there was hardly any crowd remaining and we took a peaceful but full boat back to our resort.
I was still coughing up a storm, discouraged that my two month cold had yet to subside and got more tea in that refillable mug. My husband who also had one now enjoyed a coffee while we mused about this and that. Our next day was a day of R&R, sorely needed and the next eve was a parents night out. We looked ahead to some of that. My daughter was fast asleep soon after her head hit the pillow, unaccustomed as she is to late nights.
We really had a lovely, magical day.
The next installment is our R&R day at the Dolphin. All Dolphinites or potential Dolphinites might want to read it.
KIS
