wilma-bride
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- Joined
- Jul 13, 2005
- Messages
- 22,681
Day 3 Future World (yes, there really is a song called Future World) - Wednesday 11th October
Cast:
Me Joh, 33 Excitable (well, one of us has to be)
DH Gary, 39 FINALLY showing some enthusiasm
DD1 Sian, 13 Spending money burning a hole in her pocket!
DD2 Rea, 12 looking forward to riding Soarin (gasp!)
Today was the day the girls first taste of Walt Disney World. After sleeping fitfully (waking on the hour, every hour) I finally gave in at 5 am and got up. I got dressed quietly so as not to wake the others and grabbed the essentials (book, cigarettes and diet coke) before heading down to the lobby. Because of the renovations going on, there wasnt really anywhere to sit inside so I went outside and sat on a bench to read my book. It was quite chilly sitting there (it was still dark) so I went back up to the room and sat in the bathroom reading until 6.45, at which point I went back downstairs to the snack bar. As I am the early riser in our family, it is my job to obtain the fuel required to lever my husband out of bed tea! I bought a large cup of hot tea and a couple of yummy glazed Krispy Kremes ($6) then took them back up to the room, where the alarm was just going off. This was my cue to turn on every light in the room and start making as much noise as possible. Gary, to his credit, was up and about pretty quickly but the girls needed slightly more encouragement in the form of some cold water. Eventually, everyone was up, showered and dressed and ready to head out for our first day.
As this is the girls first experience of an Orlando theme park (or any theme park for that matter, unless you count Flamingo Land which I dont), we decided we really should break them in gently, give them a chance to get used to the amount of walking involved and go easy on them the first day (plenty of time for commando touring in the next 2 weeks). Or .we could go to Epcot! So, Epcot it was. We were only planning to visit Future World today so, hopefully, it wouldnt be too much for them and would make for a slightly shorter day.
After leaving a tip for the maid, we left the room and were outside the hotel at 8 oclock, awaiting the Mears shuttle bus, having first stopped at the Mears reservations desk to book our transport for the following day (this was the trend over the next couple of weeks we knew where we were going each day so just booked the transport the day before). At just after 8, a yellow cab pulled up and in we got. We handed over our voucher and we were on our way. Before we knew it, we were pulling in to Walt Disney World resort and I could contain my excitement no longer Were here, were here, hello Mickey I shouted. Gary and the girls looked slightly embarrassed (why I do not know).
On arrival at Epcot, we exchanged the girls vouchers for their 14 day Ultimate tickets (Gary and I still had tickets from last year) and moved toward the gates, where a small queue had already formed despite it being only just 8.25. We passed the time by chatting and answering the girls incessant questions. Yes, Mickey Mouse will be here. No, Cinderellas Castle is not here. No, thats NOT a giant golf ball. Yes, Rea, there are places to eat. Yes, we will have lunch. Yes, Sian, there are shops here. And it continued. To be honest, I felt like Id done a full day before we even got in through the turnstiles. Nonetheless, in we went and wandered slowly up to the rope drop outside Innoventions. I had to smile at the fact that a handful of people had gone left towards Mission Space and the rest of the crowd were gathered on the right, obviously heading for Soarin. I explained to Gary that we would get Fastpasses first, then queue up and ride (maybe twice) before it got too busy. A lady on a segway was telling people that she would lead the way over to the Land and urged everyone to stay behind her and walk slowly. Shortly afterwards, a CM walked over and started chatting. There was a family behind us and the CM spoke to one of the kids, a little girl. He pointed to her sibling and asked Is that your husband? to which the girl replied, No, thats my SISTER!
We all fell about laughing and the poor embarrassed CM apologised profusely to the parents. To be fair, the girl in question did have really short hair and a baseball cap on but it was funny.
I looked up and saw Mickey and Minnie walking towards us, followed by Chip and Dale, Mary Poppins and a couple of other characters. Mary came over and shook hands with a few of the kids, told us all to have a good day, then the CMs dropped the rope and we were away. Despite being right at the front, we dropped back slightly to allow the hordes to forge on ahead and strolled slowly over to the Land we wanted the girls to have a chance to savour the moment. Entering the Land, we headed down the stairs and over to Soarin where we got Fastpasses with a return time of 10.05, then joined the standby line (better get into the habit of using the right word now!) Within minutes, we were in and sat in row 1, which I was really pleased about (we rode twice last year, in rows 2 and 3 but had read that the experience in row 1 was loads better). Then we were off. It was still as great as I remembered and (once Id prised Reas fingers off the armrest and told her to just relax and enjoy it) the kids loved it too.
After Soarin we decided not to ride again but to head over to the other side and do Test Track and Mission: Space. There was no wait for Test Track but it did break down 3 times while we were on it both girls enjoyed it but, apart from the fast bit at the end, I wasnt impressed. Just a note here, that Test Track is one of the only places at the moment where you can get the ride picture put on your Photopass. The guy did tell me they are hoping to have more places where it can be done in the not too distant future so thats good news. Then it was on to Mission: Space where we entered and requested the orange team. However, Rea decided she didnt want to ride Orange and asked to go on the green one. Gary said he would go on green with her but, after Rea admitted she didnt really want to ride anyway, we agreed that Rea would wait outside for us and me, Gary and Sian would go ahead and ride orange. There was no wait and it wasnt long before we were experiencing our mission to Mars. It was fantastic as always it still amazes me how they create the feeling of G-Force, incredible! Before long, we were back down to Earth and heading outside to meet up with Rea, who was sat on the wall with a bottle of water (good girl!) We bought another bottle of water and a large pretzel, which we all shared, and then headed over to the Living Seas, where we took some pictures outside and watched the seagulls from Nemo (they never fail to make me laugh).
We then entered the Living Seas and joined a HUGE queue for Turtle Talk with Crush. A CM came over to tell us that the wait time where we were would be approximately 1 hour and, with that, we decided not to bother so went off to see what else the Living Seas had to offer. We wandered round for a while; saw a massive turtle and some manatees as well as loads of fish but, to be honest, unless we missed something major, we werent really that impressed. Off we went back to the Land to ride Soarin again, stopping on the way to buy ice-creams.
Sian had an Itzakadoozie, Rea and I opted for Mickey bars and Gary had a Nestle crunch ice cream. They were very nice but Sians was melting faster than she could eat it and she ended up throwing the last bit away. Back at the Land, we rode Soarin again. This time we were in row 2 and I do think that being able to see peoples feet takes away from the experience somewhat. After Soarin we went on Living with the Land (a first for us all), which was really good and I mentioned to Gary that I would quite like to do the Behind the Seeds tour on a future trip (hint, hint!
)
By this time it was almost lunchtime and we were all getting a bit peckish so we decided to go and have some lunch. The Electric Umbrella seemed as good a place as any and we got 2 chicken strips combo meals, for me and the girls to share, and a bacon cheeseburger meal for Gary. After lunch we wandered around Mousegear (where we bought a tee shirt for Daniel and the girls bought autograph books and pens), then headed over to Club Cool. I was keen to persuade the girls and Gary to try the Beverley so I started raving about how nice it was. My cunning plan worked and Rea was the first to help herself to a sample of the dreaded Beverley. Video camera in hand, I prepared myself for her reaction. It was absolutely hilarious. She posed in front of the camera, took a large gulp and nodded her head in approval before clutching her throat, choking and pronouncing Thats disgusting. Talk about deciding in advance that youre gonna like something it obviously took her taste buds a little while to get the message to her brain. Unfortunately, Sian had seen this little display so wasnt keen to try it now but we did try some of the other offerings, the lemon one being our favourite.
Afterwards, we went to Character Connection, where the girls (and us) had our pictures taken with Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale, Goofy and Pluto. Then it was off to see Figment and Honey I Shrunk the Audience. After that, the kids (Sian, Rea and Gary!) spent a while having fun with the fountains outside, while I played David Bailey with the camera.
Rea then takes a picture of Gary and I in front of the fountain - it's not very often we get pictures of us together as we're usually here on our own (see, I knew we bought the kids for a reason
)
We decided to call it a day as it was almost 3 oclock, so phoned Mears to book our return transport for 4.15. We wandered back to Mousegear, where the girls spent some money and Rea dithered over whether or not to start collecting pins. Eventually, she decided against it, only to state on the way home that she wished she had bought a lanyard and pin after all. I told her that she would be able to buy one the next day if she still wanted to, while Gary took the opportunity to point out that she might end up feeling that way about rides and things if she didnt make more of an effort to give things a try. While we werent too bothered that shed decided against Mission: Space, we could both see it as a sign of things to come so wanted to try and persuade her to be a little bit more adventurous.
Back at the hotel, we showered and changed and then decided we would have a game of crazy golf before dinner. We had already decided to go to Friendlys so picked the Pirates Cove Adventure Golf, which was just across the road. Sian and Rea turned out to be extraordinarily bad at it and on more than one hole were into double figures on putts!!! Several times we had to stop to let people behind us play through but it was an incredibly entertaining couple of hours.
By the time wed finished, we were all starving and more than ready for dinner. It was still reasonably early (7.30) and we were seated straight away. We all fancied milkshakes so Gary ordered a vanilla Fribble shake while the girls and I chose the Oreo freeze. Now, I told you my memory is not what it once was and so it should come as no surprise that I remembered, within seconds of our shakes arriving at the table, that after last years experience at Friendlys, we said we wouldnt have milkshakes with dinner again as we invariably dont have room left for dessert too late!!!
After several minutes perusing the menu, decisions are made and we order as follows:
Gary Sirloin Steak tips (they were very, very nice)
Me Crispy Chicken sandwich with fries
Sian Chicken strips (again) with fries
Rea Turkey melt with fries
The food arrives quickly, where we tuck in with gusto. Its not long, however, before Im feeling somewhat full and unable to finish the last of my fries. The girls both struggle to finish theirs and Gary declares himself stuffed! Alas, no dessert for us tonight then. I cant believe weve had 2 meals now and still not had pudding what is the matter with us. We settle the bill ($65 inc tip), then leave and walk down I-Drive a bit to let dinner go down, before catching the I-Ride trolley back to the hotel. We watch television (Mythbusters) for a while before lights out at 10 (although I suspect that Rea was asleep before that!)
Today's budget - $250
Total spend today - $177.29
Under budget - $72.71
Cast:
Me Joh, 33 Excitable (well, one of us has to be)
DH Gary, 39 FINALLY showing some enthusiasm
DD1 Sian, 13 Spending money burning a hole in her pocket!
DD2 Rea, 12 looking forward to riding Soarin (gasp!)
Today was the day the girls first taste of Walt Disney World. After sleeping fitfully (waking on the hour, every hour) I finally gave in at 5 am and got up. I got dressed quietly so as not to wake the others and grabbed the essentials (book, cigarettes and diet coke) before heading down to the lobby. Because of the renovations going on, there wasnt really anywhere to sit inside so I went outside and sat on a bench to read my book. It was quite chilly sitting there (it was still dark) so I went back up to the room and sat in the bathroom reading until 6.45, at which point I went back downstairs to the snack bar. As I am the early riser in our family, it is my job to obtain the fuel required to lever my husband out of bed tea! I bought a large cup of hot tea and a couple of yummy glazed Krispy Kremes ($6) then took them back up to the room, where the alarm was just going off. This was my cue to turn on every light in the room and start making as much noise as possible. Gary, to his credit, was up and about pretty quickly but the girls needed slightly more encouragement in the form of some cold water. Eventually, everyone was up, showered and dressed and ready to head out for our first day.
As this is the girls first experience of an Orlando theme park (or any theme park for that matter, unless you count Flamingo Land which I dont), we decided we really should break them in gently, give them a chance to get used to the amount of walking involved and go easy on them the first day (plenty of time for commando touring in the next 2 weeks). Or .we could go to Epcot! So, Epcot it was. We were only planning to visit Future World today so, hopefully, it wouldnt be too much for them and would make for a slightly shorter day.
After leaving a tip for the maid, we left the room and were outside the hotel at 8 oclock, awaiting the Mears shuttle bus, having first stopped at the Mears reservations desk to book our transport for the following day (this was the trend over the next couple of weeks we knew where we were going each day so just booked the transport the day before). At just after 8, a yellow cab pulled up and in we got. We handed over our voucher and we were on our way. Before we knew it, we were pulling in to Walt Disney World resort and I could contain my excitement no longer Were here, were here, hello Mickey I shouted. Gary and the girls looked slightly embarrassed (why I do not know).
On arrival at Epcot, we exchanged the girls vouchers for their 14 day Ultimate tickets (Gary and I still had tickets from last year) and moved toward the gates, where a small queue had already formed despite it being only just 8.25. We passed the time by chatting and answering the girls incessant questions. Yes, Mickey Mouse will be here. No, Cinderellas Castle is not here. No, thats NOT a giant golf ball. Yes, Rea, there are places to eat. Yes, we will have lunch. Yes, Sian, there are shops here. And it continued. To be honest, I felt like Id done a full day before we even got in through the turnstiles. Nonetheless, in we went and wandered slowly up to the rope drop outside Innoventions. I had to smile at the fact that a handful of people had gone left towards Mission Space and the rest of the crowd were gathered on the right, obviously heading for Soarin. I explained to Gary that we would get Fastpasses first, then queue up and ride (maybe twice) before it got too busy. A lady on a segway was telling people that she would lead the way over to the Land and urged everyone to stay behind her and walk slowly. Shortly afterwards, a CM walked over and started chatting. There was a family behind us and the CM spoke to one of the kids, a little girl. He pointed to her sibling and asked Is that your husband? to which the girl replied, No, thats my SISTER!
We all fell about laughing and the poor embarrassed CM apologised profusely to the parents. To be fair, the girl in question did have really short hair and a baseball cap on but it was funny.I looked up and saw Mickey and Minnie walking towards us, followed by Chip and Dale, Mary Poppins and a couple of other characters. Mary came over and shook hands with a few of the kids, told us all to have a good day, then the CMs dropped the rope and we were away. Despite being right at the front, we dropped back slightly to allow the hordes to forge on ahead and strolled slowly over to the Land we wanted the girls to have a chance to savour the moment. Entering the Land, we headed down the stairs and over to Soarin where we got Fastpasses with a return time of 10.05, then joined the standby line (better get into the habit of using the right word now!) Within minutes, we were in and sat in row 1, which I was really pleased about (we rode twice last year, in rows 2 and 3 but had read that the experience in row 1 was loads better). Then we were off. It was still as great as I remembered and (once Id prised Reas fingers off the armrest and told her to just relax and enjoy it) the kids loved it too.
After Soarin we decided not to ride again but to head over to the other side and do Test Track and Mission: Space. There was no wait for Test Track but it did break down 3 times while we were on it both girls enjoyed it but, apart from the fast bit at the end, I wasnt impressed. Just a note here, that Test Track is one of the only places at the moment where you can get the ride picture put on your Photopass. The guy did tell me they are hoping to have more places where it can be done in the not too distant future so thats good news. Then it was on to Mission: Space where we entered and requested the orange team. However, Rea decided she didnt want to ride Orange and asked to go on the green one. Gary said he would go on green with her but, after Rea admitted she didnt really want to ride anyway, we agreed that Rea would wait outside for us and me, Gary and Sian would go ahead and ride orange. There was no wait and it wasnt long before we were experiencing our mission to Mars. It was fantastic as always it still amazes me how they create the feeling of G-Force, incredible! Before long, we were back down to Earth and heading outside to meet up with Rea, who was sat on the wall with a bottle of water (good girl!) We bought another bottle of water and a large pretzel, which we all shared, and then headed over to the Living Seas, where we took some pictures outside and watched the seagulls from Nemo (they never fail to make me laugh).
We then entered the Living Seas and joined a HUGE queue for Turtle Talk with Crush. A CM came over to tell us that the wait time where we were would be approximately 1 hour and, with that, we decided not to bother so went off to see what else the Living Seas had to offer. We wandered round for a while; saw a massive turtle and some manatees as well as loads of fish but, to be honest, unless we missed something major, we werent really that impressed. Off we went back to the Land to ride Soarin again, stopping on the way to buy ice-creams.
Sian had an Itzakadoozie, Rea and I opted for Mickey bars and Gary had a Nestle crunch ice cream. They were very nice but Sians was melting faster than she could eat it and she ended up throwing the last bit away. Back at the Land, we rode Soarin again. This time we were in row 2 and I do think that being able to see peoples feet takes away from the experience somewhat. After Soarin we went on Living with the Land (a first for us all), which was really good and I mentioned to Gary that I would quite like to do the Behind the Seeds tour on a future trip (hint, hint!
)By this time it was almost lunchtime and we were all getting a bit peckish so we decided to go and have some lunch. The Electric Umbrella seemed as good a place as any and we got 2 chicken strips combo meals, for me and the girls to share, and a bacon cheeseburger meal for Gary. After lunch we wandered around Mousegear (where we bought a tee shirt for Daniel and the girls bought autograph books and pens), then headed over to Club Cool. I was keen to persuade the girls and Gary to try the Beverley so I started raving about how nice it was. My cunning plan worked and Rea was the first to help herself to a sample of the dreaded Beverley. Video camera in hand, I prepared myself for her reaction. It was absolutely hilarious. She posed in front of the camera, took a large gulp and nodded her head in approval before clutching her throat, choking and pronouncing Thats disgusting. Talk about deciding in advance that youre gonna like something it obviously took her taste buds a little while to get the message to her brain. Unfortunately, Sian had seen this little display so wasnt keen to try it now but we did try some of the other offerings, the lemon one being our favourite.
Afterwards, we went to Character Connection, where the girls (and us) had our pictures taken with Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale, Goofy and Pluto. Then it was off to see Figment and Honey I Shrunk the Audience. After that, the kids (Sian, Rea and Gary!) spent a while having fun with the fountains outside, while I played David Bailey with the camera.
Rea then takes a picture of Gary and I in front of the fountain - it's not very often we get pictures of us together as we're usually here on our own (see, I knew we bought the kids for a reason
)
We decided to call it a day as it was almost 3 oclock, so phoned Mears to book our return transport for 4.15. We wandered back to Mousegear, where the girls spent some money and Rea dithered over whether or not to start collecting pins. Eventually, she decided against it, only to state on the way home that she wished she had bought a lanyard and pin after all. I told her that she would be able to buy one the next day if she still wanted to, while Gary took the opportunity to point out that she might end up feeling that way about rides and things if she didnt make more of an effort to give things a try. While we werent too bothered that shed decided against Mission: Space, we could both see it as a sign of things to come so wanted to try and persuade her to be a little bit more adventurous.
Back at the hotel, we showered and changed and then decided we would have a game of crazy golf before dinner. We had already decided to go to Friendlys so picked the Pirates Cove Adventure Golf, which was just across the road. Sian and Rea turned out to be extraordinarily bad at it and on more than one hole were into double figures on putts!!! Several times we had to stop to let people behind us play through but it was an incredibly entertaining couple of hours.
By the time wed finished, we were all starving and more than ready for dinner. It was still reasonably early (7.30) and we were seated straight away. We all fancied milkshakes so Gary ordered a vanilla Fribble shake while the girls and I chose the Oreo freeze. Now, I told you my memory is not what it once was and so it should come as no surprise that I remembered, within seconds of our shakes arriving at the table, that after last years experience at Friendlys, we said we wouldnt have milkshakes with dinner again as we invariably dont have room left for dessert too late!!!
After several minutes perusing the menu, decisions are made and we order as follows:
Gary Sirloin Steak tips (they were very, very nice)
Me Crispy Chicken sandwich with fries
Sian Chicken strips (again) with fries
Rea Turkey melt with fries
The food arrives quickly, where we tuck in with gusto. Its not long, however, before Im feeling somewhat full and unable to finish the last of my fries. The girls both struggle to finish theirs and Gary declares himself stuffed! Alas, no dessert for us tonight then. I cant believe weve had 2 meals now and still not had pudding what is the matter with us. We settle the bill ($65 inc tip), then leave and walk down I-Drive a bit to let dinner go down, before catching the I-Ride trolley back to the hotel. We watch television (Mythbusters) for a while before lights out at 10 (although I suspect that Rea was asleep before that!)
Today's budget - $250
Total spend today - $177.29
Under budget - $72.71
