Itchin' For Some Fun...12/10/09 - 12/14/09...Finished 3/17

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Sounds like a great morning! And now you are on your way to Epcot!! Can't wait til you get there. . .

 

[praisehisname]

Disney World either makes me want to have kids (when I see stuff like that) or NOT want to EVER have children when I see the kids screaming their heads off!!

Isn't it great when you can have a leisurely get-yourself-together kind of morning? I love that. It makes everything go so much smoother all day long!

Definitely!

I know that feeling of being too excited to sleep.

The problem was it was the THIRD day in a row of waking up early and I was exhausted!

 

[praisehisname]

Love the pictures of Pop. You are so right - it is so Disneyish! More so than any of the other resorts, in my opinion.

We really loved it, too!

Okay, this not having a computer and having to sneak time at work or on my son's is not pleasing me at all. I am so far behind on everyone's trip reports. I've finally caught up on yours and love the pics and the updates.

Thanks for reading; I appreciate it!

So precious that brother/sister story! Would have melted my heart if I saw it in person.

It really made us miss our kids...for a moment!

 

[praisehisname]

Sounds like a great morning! And now you are on your way to Epcot!! Can't wait til you get there. . .

It *was* a nice morning. Update coming tonight!

 

[praisehisname]

When I left off, we had just arrived at Epcot. It was 8:25, park opening was at 9:00, and there were not a lot of people there yet. It was supposed to be the coolest day of our visit (high of 68) but with long sleeves and a sweater for later, I thought it felt good. We took some time to take some pics on the way to the turnstiles.









Tom caught a picture of me having an internal meltdown.



See, when we got to the turnstiles, people were lining up at only two of them. All of the other turnstiles were empty. As a DISer, I knew that they would all be opened. But I was feeling very self-conscious and didn’t want to just go over and get in line. A CM was walking among the crowd handing out maps, so I asked her if all the turnstiles would be used at opening. She just looked at me like I had three heads. I decided not to make a spectacle of myself and stayed put. Sure enough, as more and more people arrived, they began lining up at ALL the other turnstiles. I could have been first in line and blew it. So once again, I decided to let it go and just enjoy being there.

At 8:50, they let us through the turnstiles and up to the rope.





Guess what? I was right up against the rope! There were some really fun CMs there explaining what was going to happen when the rope dropped and how we were to WALK and not run. Then they introduced the “family of the day” and the characters came out to open the park. We all counted down from ten, and they rolled back the rope. We were off to the Land Pavilion to ride Soarin’!!!



I had already told Tom that the plan was for him to go and grab fastpasses and then we would ride stand-by. When we got there, the stand-by wait was 5 minutes. While I was waiting for him to get fastpasses, the wait went up to 10 minutes. It was taking him forever. It turned out that a lot of the machines weren’t working, and it took him several attempts before he was able to get the fastpasses.

Fastpasses secured, we jumped in line and never stopped walking until we got to the loading zone where you watch Puddy. We had several rides last trip in the front/center, so we decided to let some other lucky riders have those spots and just take whatever we were given. But, we were given front center!!!



I just love this ride and think it’s a great way to start the day. The pine smell, the oranges, the wind in your face. Aaaaahhh…. I vowed that I would not jump at the golf ball scene, but I did.

When we came out, the stand-by wait was up to 30 minutes, so we moved on. I wanted to get the biggie rides done in Future World and be at World Showcase by opening at 11am.



My poptart was long gone and Tom hadn’t had anything to eat yet, so we decided to use a snack credit and share some strawberry shortcake. The cost would have been $4.25.



I had seen the pictures on the DIS, and honestly had thought it looked kind of gross. But let me tell you, it was NOT gross. We were fighting each other for the last bite!

As we made our way back over to the escalators to exit the Land, I noticed that the wait time for Living With The Land was only 5 minutes. So why not ride?



I do not have a green thumb, but I am fascinated by this kind of stuff. I hope I don’t bore you with my pictures!



















...continued in next post...

 

[praisehisname]

The fish farm is pretty interesting, too.







My next goal was to head over to Mission: Space and get fastpasses.



However, when we got there, the wait for the Orange Team was only 20 minutes, so we jumped in line.



We definitely did not wait 20 minutes. It was more like 8 minutes.























It was a lot more intense than I remembered, or else I am just getting old. I loved every minute of it, but decided that once was enough. So we skipped getting any fastpasses for later.

Our next stop was Test Track. The single rider line was at 20 minutes, so we jumped in that line. Again, we only waited about 12 minutes. Tom ended up getting put in the car right behind mine.





I knew I wanted to enter World Showcase from the Canada side, so it was back across Future World. Since we had to go that way anyway, we ran back into the Land Pavilion to grab another set of fastpasses for Soarin’.



Up next…World Showcase!

 

[dawnbu40]

I love the Christmas topiary at the front of the park!
That strawberry shortcake looked delicious! I'm going to need to try that next time!

Good job on getting through those lines so fast! I hope that continued through your visit!

 

[twob4him]

Awww... I love the cute sad doggie pics!
Ya for first class ride and a good landing in the wind;
POP looked so festive and fun!
Sorry about the bed situation but...at least you could toss and turn and not kick your dh!!
Your meal at POP looked yummy! and speaking of yummy...those cinnamon rolls were divine! Oh I wish I could cook!
So far so good at Epcot...I loved doing Soarin first thing too...uggg...I really gotta write my epcot day soon ... sorry I am lagging behind on my tr.
Great tr and I can't wait for more!!!

 

[Marshay]

I had a really hard time coming up with a title for this report. Here are some of the contenders:

This trip was just me (40) and DH, Tom (46).

Back in July I turned 40. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
We stayed at Pop from December 10 to December 14, non-hoppers with quick-service dining (got it free!). We also attended MVMCP on December 13.

Coming up, getting there...

OK, I just read your whole report and am excited to hear more.

I turn 40 this coming July in WDW. Tell me that 40 is good!!

I love your cinnamon rolls and thanks for showing the step by step pictures!!

Now, did you have to pay extra for the King bed? It used to be like $10/night extra when we stayed at the moderates years ago...

My DH is 6'6" and I'm 6' so there is no way we are both sleeping on a double bed...my DH would have been upset (but I secretly would have l-o-v-e-d it!! I, too, like to stretch out!)

I took my DD4 to Princess and the Frog and she really liked it...a bit scary but all Disney movies are like that.

Sounds like you guys did great on lines for Epcot!

 

[praisehisname]

That strawberry shortcake looked delicious! I'm going to need to try that next time!

It was amazing; definitely try it!

Sorry about the bed situation but...at least you could toss and turn and not kick your dh!!

Hey! He's the kicker, not me!

Now, did you have to pay extra for the King bed? It used to be like $10/night extra when we stayed at the moderates years ago...

That's a good point. I'll have to go back and see if we actually paid for it. I'm thinking we didn't.

 

[MeMom]

Wouldn't every day just be so much nicer if we could start it out with Soarin'?

I have no green thumb, but Living with the Land always makes me want to come home and plant something.

Mission:Space is a queue that I will never have pictures of. Just seeing the pictures of the inside of the capsule make me start taking deep breaths!

I'm sure looking forward to seeing the topiaries with all of the Christmas decorations very, very soon.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Great update!

We just LOVE Soarin! And that strawberry shortcake looks wonderful.

I don't do Mission Space anymore. Not after my last experience on it. You are very brave!!

 

[jenbear123]

I'm a little late but I found you! Thanks for the message. Going back to read now....

Happy belated 40th!

 

[Charleston Princess]

I'm here!!!

 

[praisehisname]

Wouldn't every day just be so much nicer if we could start it out with Soarin'?

Absolutely!

I don't do Mission Space anymore. Not after my last experience on it. You are very brave!!

The first time I rode it, there was only one version. So I don't know any better!

I'm a little late but I found you! Thanks for the message. Going back to read now....

Thanks for joining!

 

[praisehisname]

I'm here!!!

Thanks so much for coming over!

 

[KatMark]

Love the updates. Mission is the one and ONLY ride at Disney that I absolutely refuse to do (I hate Rock & Roll Roller Coaster too...but that one I'll do for DH since he is so kind and does Winnie the Pooh for me a number of times each trip. )

 

[praisehisname]

Love the updates. Mission is the one and ONLY ride at Disney that I absolutely refuse to do (I hate Rock & Roll Roller Coaster too...but that one I'll do for DH since he is so kind and does Winnie the Pooh for me a number of times each trip. )

Yeah, I think I've ridden it for the last time!

 

[jenbear123]

Phew all caught up! Your dog is absolutely adorable. My puppy always knows when something is up. Then gives me those great big puppy eyes.

Those cinnamon buns look scrumptious. I can see myself packing on the pounds eating those things!

Bed bugs - how do you know if they're in your bed? I've seen several DISers talking about bed bugs and always checking for them. I am not one to be paranoid about that kind of stuff but then again, I hate bugs!!!! So please, give me the low-down on how to check for bed bugs. Especially since I'll be staying at Pop in February and April.

It's nice you had a relaxing first night. I'm completely the opposite though. I always want to GO GO GO as soon as we're off the plane. Sometimes it's nice to take it easy though.

We all should start our mornings with Soarin'. I could spend the rest of my life on that ride and never get sick of it.

Your brave for going on Mission Space Orange Team. I can hardly handle the Green Team! It's just not for me I guess

Did you eat at Counter service the whole trip? Or were there some sit-downs? Just curious

 

[AlohaPolynesian]

Isn't that cake just to die for? I LOVE it! What is the difference between green and orange team on Mission Space? I refuse to ride it so I don't know anything about the ride. Besides that fact that I would most certainly have a panic attack and/or throw up if I were ever to ride it!