When we last left the Hicks they had reunited with the Bionic SIL and kids, and had gotten to their excellent parking lot view rooms, as requested.
We were so happy to have our Tickets to the World in hand, and after un-packing we headed off to the Pop Century food court to break in our Free Dining.
Here I must pause to tell a little side story involving the Bionic SIL.
As many of you know, the weeks preceding our trip were extremely stressful due to the illness of my MIL.
Well, as bad as it was for me (insomnia), it was worse on SIL.
She bore the brunt of the experience, as I am home with all my kids an unable to go to the hospital every day.
When it was clear that the Inlaws were not going to be able to travel with us, but that our trip was still a go, she and I proceeded with our planning and packing.
They did not leave home until the day after we left, as they were flying.
Well, nerves must have gotten the best of her, because she also had three incidents of car-sickness on the way to the airport...all her, all while driving.
Then their flight was delayed by 40 minutes, but the pilot managed to shave 20 minutes off the flight time, so they made it to Orlando almost on time.
She was still feeling a little peak-ed, but better when we arrived.
In the meantime, Stitch Jr had also been ill.
We began to fear it was an epidemic.
But, no, thankfully, it was just a bit of excitement and motion-sickness combined.
Consequently, they did not stay long at the food court.
So Pocohantas Jr stayed a while with us, and we had a good time.
Food court legos
Food court "those thingies that look like yo-yos but roll up and down a curved stick thing."
It was late, so we decided to skip the pool that night and head to bed.
Some of the kids decided to bunk with grandma, which was fine by us, and the rest started to settle down. But when I went in to check on their progress, Princess K looked like she had a bone to pick with me.
This is NOT Disney World!!! said Princess K.
Yes it is, said I.
No, it is not!
Why do you say that?
WHERE are the rides? WHERE are the PRINCESSES?!?
Well, the rides are at the parks, and it is past the princesses bed times as they have to get a good nights sleep so they can have breakfast with you tomorrow.
OH! said Princess K with VERY big eyes, and she plopped down and went to sleep.
Whew, glad that crisis was avoided.
I didnt know there was a theory among four year olds that their parents might try to pull a fast one and not really take them to WDW when they say they will.
John and I tried to settle down for the night, but apparently we inherited the NOISY air conditioner, AND the leaky faucet.
I decided to report the sink in the morning, as it wasnt too bad, and didnt figure out it was the AC that was making the noise until later in the week.
It wasnt long before the 6 am alarm was going off.
We had no trouble waking up the girls, as they were prime for seeing the princesses!
The boys, on the other hand, were not interested in the least in those foofy princesses.
Our ADR was for 8:40 am, and I was uncertain how long it would take us to get to Epcot and then how long it would take to walk across the park, so we left REALLY early, probably around
7:30. Well, apparently there is no line at that time in the morning, and the bus to Epcot is really quick, because we got there really fast.
Sorry if some of these pics are duplicates of my food report, but they show the empty park really well.
For full details of this meal, you can visit said food report.
But here are a couple of funny pics:
Mom (I had promised you a pic of Mom!)
The boys who dont like princesses but cant take their eyes off of them
The cool ceiling decorations
We managed to get out of the restaurant around 9:30, I think, and decided that although getting to Soarin early was a priority, it might be a good idea to hit Test Track on the way.
Next up:
Day 3, part 2 - And then something really exciting happened...
), but it sure felt like forever getting there. We had one of those downpours in the middle of Jacksonville and all the construction; good times for all going through that!
(Ok, and a couple on mine, too, I admit..)
Somehow you just get used to it...I guess. I moved away for some years for undergraduate and swore that I would never move back and guess what??? I am here with my dh who is originally from Cali (went to GT for undergrad) and the traffic really doesn't bother him!!! WHAT? So, I am not offended...just enjoying this TR. I am waiting for more!!!!!!!!!
Oh, you crack me up.
