ToriLammy
<font color=3300FF>Proud mom of a computer wiz<br>
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2002
- Messages
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Day 7 - Sunday, Jun 29th - Animal Kingdom & Epcot
No wakeup call but my room did have an alarm clock so I was up at 6AM. Id filled the coffee pot last night so all I had to do was turn it on. While waiting for the coffee I woke DH and the teens up and got them going. Had my coffee and cigarette on the back patio and then went in and woke everyone else. We had 6 different boxes of cereal and 8 different kinds of pop tarts, plus bagels, English muffins and Eggos to choose from for breakfast. It was 7:30ish when I started herding folks towards their cars. Laura and her kids in her van, MIL, my teens and I in ours and Dave rode with Roz and Paul and family so they could go to SOG and get the tickets. We headed out to our first day at WDW -- all 14 of us.
We got to the AK around 8:20 (after parking and getting the wheelchair/ECV out the van). Our first encounter - the talking Palm tree. I heard something and turned around and there it was. I yelled for Laura to come see and it echoed me and then started a conversation with her and they boys. Ive got a great pic of Daniel (2) trying to figure out what is going on. We left the Palm and got in line, probably about 15-20 people back. The two kids in front of us got picked to help open the park - bummer was hoping theyd pick the boys. Dave, Roz and Family 3 arrived shortly before opening. Dave came up and found me to let me know he was there and then joined Rozs family back at the end of the line (no line jumping for us
). The boys, LT and Jackie got in line to meet Mickey while I waited for Dave and the rest to enter the park - as soon as they did I took their tickets added them to our own and sent David off to get Fastpasses for the Safari ride telling him to meet us at The Lion King Show. After meeting as many characters as possible we headed to Camp Minnie/Mickey to get in line for the show. We were the first two wheelchair people (MIL and her ECV counted as #2) in line. This was my first real encounter with Nicks (8) new game - Why? Everything you say to him prompts him to say Why? Finally after about the 10th why I start replying Why what to make him form the question into a real question, Nick soon loses interest in knowing everything and goes over to his mom (Thank goodness). The wait to be seated was only about 15 minutes and after the boys played musical chairs trying to get the best view the show started. It was great (just as I remembered) and everyone was happy. On to the Safari ride, David had gotten back with the fast passes shortly after we were seated and was able to join our group. We practically walked right on, everyone was amazed at how FASTPASS works.
The Safari ride was great, we all sat in the same vehicle and four of the five youngest were directly behind the driver. She was great and very patient with Nick and his WHY game, only told him once to please let her finish speaking before he asked a question. There were tons of animals and bless his heart Steven (5) really believed we saved Lil Red The driver got the five children certificates making them Jr Rangers for the trip. I still had everyones passes so I told them I was going ahead to get FASTPASSES for Its Tough to Be Bug while they walked through Pagani Forest Trail. LT came with and on the way we purchased a pretzel to share. It took them about 30 minutes to join LT and I and it was just time for our FASTPASS so we entered the queue. Now about a month ago I sent Roz and Laura a document I found on line that listed every single ride and attraction at WDW and the Fear Factor associated with it. I did this so we could avoid any problems. Roz took Lauren into ITTBAB even though Lauren is afraid of spiders. Major meltdown and the start of Lauren being afraid of any ride that was dark, Nick soon joined her in that fear (maybe cause he felt left out, Im not sure). From there I went over and got FASTPASSES for Kali and it was for 2 hours later so we headed for Dinoland. Roz, Paul and the kids were hungry so they took off to go eat. We arranged to meet at Kali at our FASTPASS time of 2:15. Laura took the two younger boys to the Boneyard Dig while we got in line for Primevil Whirl. Jackie declined to go on it because it looked too rough and she was right as usual - she would have hated it. After that Mom showed up on her ECV and Dave took Chris (9), LT and David over to Dinosaur. Jackie, Mom and I got ice cream bars and found a shady place to wait. Jackie doesnt care for Dinosaur because it is also too rough. Just as they got off the ride Roz, Paul and their kids found us so we all headed over to Kali. We found Laura sitting in a shady area, Daniel passed out in the stroller and Steven looking bored. Mom decided she didnt want to ride Kali, Lauren opted out cause she was scared so Mom stayed with the sleeping Daniel and Lauren while the 11 of us went on the ride. I thought the boats only seated 10 so Paul agreed to be the sole dude but it turns out they seat 12 so we were able to ride together. They have a special handicapped loading area so we were directed over to it and only had to wait a few minutes before a boat arrived. Now last time we went on this in Dec 99 I was the one who got soaked - twice. I was determined that it was not going to happen again so I had Steven sit next to me and on one other side was Chris sitting next to LT and then Jackie and then Dave. Roz and Laura sat directly across from me together with David (my 63 230 lb 18 year old son next to them) and Paul (63 200 lbs on the other side). It looked like I was going to stay relatively dry It worked too, you know the part where you go down the hill and the water just flies over the boat and lands in someones lap? Well, both times we rode that side of the boat as Roz and Laura - yeah. They were drenched. I was wet but it was nowhere near the drenching I got last time. We walked through the Jungle Trek and then made our way to the exit. It was close 4pm and everyone was getting tired, hungry and hot.
We got back to the house quickly and made dinner. It started raining while we were eating but our plans called for going to Epcot and watching Illuminations so we decided to chance it that the rain would stop before 9PM. Mom, David, Paul and Lauren decided to stay home. David stayed because he was reading the new Harry Potter book and wanted to get some quality, quiet reading time in. The others, well they were just tired. So, 10 of us headed to Epcot around 5:30PM. We donned our ponchos before exiting our vehicles and walked into the park. Roz wanted to stop at guest relations so Dave stayed with her while the rest of us starting walking slowly to Mexico. Roz didnt bring her own poncho so she was wearing one of ours - the Tony Stewart (NASCAR driver) one and it got the attention of a CM driving around on a Segway. He asked her if she was fan and she said she had no clue who he even was but DH explained I was the NASCAR nut. The CM is married to a woman who works for NASCAR in their ticketing department. He asked Dave if he wanted tickets to the qualifying on Thursday night and okay he gets the award for dumb husband for this, instead of immediately saying yes and giving the CM our info he tells him he has to go ask me - What! He knew I wanted to go to Daytona .he should have just said yes and surprised me but no he had to play it safe. Problem is after I tell him how dumb it was to come ask me he couldnt find the CM again so I watched qualifying at home. Oh well.
Find the Kidscot station and the boys start working on their masks. We found the entrance to the ride and got in line when Nick started his Im afraid routine again so he and Roz left the line and went to wait for us. Roz explained that Nick had studied Mexico in school this year and learned there was some cannibalism in their history so he was afraid of cannibals. Everyone else enjoyed the boat ride especially DH who didnt have to transfer Jackie out of her wheelchair because there is a handicapped accessible boat. When we got to the exit of Mexico it was pouring buckets, what the heck - we had ponchos so we braved the rain and walked to Norway. We immediately got in line for the boat ride and again Nick was afraid so rather than have Roz miss another ride I stayed with him. He didnt like that because he wanted to go to the gift store and look around and I made us stay at the exit to the ride. There was a CM who was squeegeeing (sp?) the floor and another little boy asked to help and she let him so Nick was soon interested. She gave Nick a broom and dustpan and he swept up the dirt while the other boy squeegeed the floor. Soon they switched jobs. It kept Nick busy and quiet so I was happy. The CM left and came back with Certificates for both boys - Nick was not impressed with what he called Another dumb certificate - he wanted a toy. Oh well. Just glad hes not my son. The doors opened and Roz stuck her head out and said they were going to watch the film so Nick and I joined them. She did tell me that Nick would have been scared to death of the trolls so it was good he didnt go on. We found the kidcot station on our way out and the kids added to the masks. When we exited we found that it had stopped raining so off with the ponchos and on to China.
Found the kidscot station right away. Nick decided he was bored with this so his mom had to take his mask over and get the stamp. I needed a smoke break so I told everyone I would meet them in Germany. They stopped at the Outpost and then joined me there. Both Lauras boys were born in Germany so they were excited to see everything in the German stores. Chris remembers Germany but Steven came back when he was just 7 months old so it was all new to him. Found the kidscot station, Steven excitedly announced he was born in GE so the CM wrote a note in GE on his mask. The sky was now completely clear and the crowds virtually nil so getting a good spot for Illuminations was not a priority yet so we moved on to Italy and then America. We stopped for a couple of minutes and listed to Bering Straight as they were finishing their performance (I wished David was with us, he really likes their music) and then went back to the Handicapped Viewing area in between Germany and Italy. It was completely empty! The CM actually looked happy to have some company. We put the ponchos on the benches and all sat down. LT and I struck up a conversation with CM about the College Intern program (okay confession, Ive been working on her for 5 days now about the program, trying to convince her to look into it - my son is totally uninterested and Im not sure Jackie would be eligible or able to do it because of her CP so LT is sort of my last hope.) This CM was so enthuastic that I think she would have signed up right then and there (especially when he told her about the partying). Hed been in the program since January and was scheduled to leave in early August. His family was going to be coming down for his last two weeks. The show started and it was beautiful. I even jokingly told everyone that I had arranged for all the smoke to blow away from us. I could not have asked for a better viewing area. This is Daves favorite thing at WDW so Im glad we were able to get it in and that it was as good as he remembered. Only wish David and my MIL had been with us. On the way out Dave ran ahead to try and find the guy on the Segway but was not able to. Oh well, I still love him and he really did try. Roz presented me with a small envelope with 50 Disney Dollars in it (guess that was the reason for the stop at the Guest Relations). She gave me strict instructions to spend it on myself. It was a nice thank you for planning the trip. We got back to the house by 10PM and quickly put the younger kids to bed. Tomorrow is our first off day so we sat around talking for a while and then every drifted off to their respective beds around midnight.
No wakeup call but my room did have an alarm clock so I was up at 6AM. Id filled the coffee pot last night so all I had to do was turn it on. While waiting for the coffee I woke DH and the teens up and got them going. Had my coffee and cigarette on the back patio and then went in and woke everyone else. We had 6 different boxes of cereal and 8 different kinds of pop tarts, plus bagels, English muffins and Eggos to choose from for breakfast. It was 7:30ish when I started herding folks towards their cars. Laura and her kids in her van, MIL, my teens and I in ours and Dave rode with Roz and Paul and family so they could go to SOG and get the tickets. We headed out to our first day at WDW -- all 14 of us.
We got to the AK around 8:20 (after parking and getting the wheelchair/ECV out the van). Our first encounter - the talking Palm tree. I heard something and turned around and there it was. I yelled for Laura to come see and it echoed me and then started a conversation with her and they boys. Ive got a great pic of Daniel (2) trying to figure out what is going on. We left the Palm and got in line, probably about 15-20 people back. The two kids in front of us got picked to help open the park - bummer was hoping theyd pick the boys. Dave, Roz and Family 3 arrived shortly before opening. Dave came up and found me to let me know he was there and then joined Rozs family back at the end of the line (no line jumping for us
). The boys, LT and Jackie got in line to meet Mickey while I waited for Dave and the rest to enter the park - as soon as they did I took their tickets added them to our own and sent David off to get Fastpasses for the Safari ride telling him to meet us at The Lion King Show. After meeting as many characters as possible we headed to Camp Minnie/Mickey to get in line for the show. We were the first two wheelchair people (MIL and her ECV counted as #2) in line. This was my first real encounter with Nicks (8) new game - Why? Everything you say to him prompts him to say Why? Finally after about the 10th why I start replying Why what to make him form the question into a real question, Nick soon loses interest in knowing everything and goes over to his mom (Thank goodness). The wait to be seated was only about 15 minutes and after the boys played musical chairs trying to get the best view the show started. It was great (just as I remembered) and everyone was happy. On to the Safari ride, David had gotten back with the fast passes shortly after we were seated and was able to join our group. We practically walked right on, everyone was amazed at how FASTPASS works. The Safari ride was great, we all sat in the same vehicle and four of the five youngest were directly behind the driver. She was great and very patient with Nick and his WHY game, only told him once to please let her finish speaking before he asked a question. There were tons of animals and bless his heart Steven (5) really believed we saved Lil Red
The driver got the five children certificates making them Jr Rangers for the trip. I still had everyones passes so I told them I was going ahead to get FASTPASSES for Its Tough to Be Bug while they walked through Pagani Forest Trail. LT came with and on the way we purchased a pretzel to share. It took them about 30 minutes to join LT and I and it was just time for our FASTPASS so we entered the queue. Now about a month ago I sent Roz and Laura a document I found on line that listed every single ride and attraction at WDW and the Fear Factor associated with it. I did this so we could avoid any problems. Roz took Lauren into ITTBAB even though Lauren is afraid of spiders. Major meltdown and the start of Lauren being afraid of any ride that was dark, Nick soon joined her in that fear (maybe cause he felt left out, Im not sure). From there I went over and got FASTPASSES for Kali and it was for 2 hours later so we headed for Dinoland. Roz, Paul and the kids were hungry so they took off to go eat. We arranged to meet at Kali at our FASTPASS time of 2:15. Laura took the two younger boys to the Boneyard Dig while we got in line for Primevil Whirl. Jackie declined to go on it because it looked too rough and she was right as usual - she would have hated it. After that Mom showed up on her ECV and Dave took Chris (9), LT and David over to Dinosaur. Jackie, Mom and I got ice cream bars and found a shady place to wait. Jackie doesnt care for Dinosaur because it is also too rough. Just as they got off the ride Roz, Paul and their kids found us so we all headed over to Kali. We found Laura sitting in a shady area, Daniel passed out in the stroller and Steven looking bored. Mom decided she didnt want to ride Kali, Lauren opted out cause she was scared so Mom stayed with the sleeping Daniel and Lauren while the 11 of us went on the ride. I thought the boats only seated 10 so Paul agreed to be the sole dude but it turns out they seat 12 so we were able to ride together. They have a special handicapped loading area so we were directed over to it and only had to wait a few minutes before a boat arrived. Now last time we went on this in Dec 99 I was the one who got soaked - twice. I was determined that it was not going to happen again so I had Steven sit next to me and on one other side was Chris sitting next to LT and then Jackie and then Dave. Roz and Laura sat directly across from me together with David (my 63 230 lb 18 year old son next to them) and Paul (63 200 lbs on the other side). It looked like I was going to stay relatively dry It worked too, you know the part where you go down the hill and the water just flies over the boat and lands in someones lap? Well, both times we rode that side of the boat as Roz and Laura - yeah. They were drenched. I was wet but it was nowhere near the drenching I got last time. We walked through the Jungle Trek and then made our way to the exit. It was close 4pm and everyone was getting tired, hungry and hot.We got back to the house quickly and made dinner. It started raining while we were eating but our plans called for going to Epcot and watching Illuminations so we decided to chance it that the rain would stop before 9PM. Mom, David, Paul and Lauren decided to stay home. David stayed because he was reading the new Harry Potter book and wanted to get some quality, quiet reading time in. The others, well they were just tired. So, 10 of us headed to Epcot around 5:30PM. We donned our ponchos before exiting our vehicles and walked into the park. Roz wanted to stop at guest relations so Dave stayed with her while the rest of us starting walking slowly to Mexico. Roz didnt bring her own poncho so she was wearing one of ours - the Tony Stewart (NASCAR driver) one and it got the attention of a CM driving around on a Segway. He asked her if she was fan and she said she had no clue who he even was but DH explained I was the NASCAR nut. The CM is married to a woman who works for NASCAR in their ticketing department. He asked Dave if he wanted tickets to the qualifying on Thursday night and okay he gets the award for dumb husband for this, instead of immediately saying yes and giving the CM our info he tells him he has to go ask me - What! He knew I wanted to go to Daytona .he should have just said yes and surprised me but no he had to play it safe. Problem is after I tell him how dumb it was to come ask me he couldnt find the CM again so I watched qualifying at home. Oh well.
Find the Kidscot station and the boys start working on their masks. We found the entrance to the ride and got in line when Nick started his Im afraid routine again so he and Roz left the line and went to wait for us. Roz explained that Nick had studied Mexico in school this year and learned there was some cannibalism in their history so he was afraid of cannibals. Everyone else enjoyed the boat ride especially DH who didnt have to transfer Jackie out of her wheelchair because there is a handicapped accessible boat. When we got to the exit of Mexico it was pouring buckets, what the heck - we had ponchos so we braved the rain and walked to Norway. We immediately got in line for the boat ride and again Nick was afraid so rather than have Roz miss another ride I stayed with him. He didnt like that because he wanted to go to the gift store and look around and I made us stay at the exit to the ride. There was a CM who was squeegeeing (sp?) the floor and another little boy asked to help and she let him so Nick was soon interested. She gave Nick a broom and dustpan and he swept up the dirt while the other boy squeegeed the floor. Soon they switched jobs. It kept Nick busy and quiet so I was happy. The CM left and came back with Certificates for both boys - Nick was not impressed with what he called Another dumb certificate - he wanted a toy. Oh well. Just glad hes not my son. The doors opened and Roz stuck her head out and said they were going to watch the film so Nick and I joined them. She did tell me that Nick would have been scared to death of the trolls so it was good he didnt go on. We found the kidcot station on our way out and the kids added to the masks. When we exited we found that it had stopped raining so off with the ponchos and on to China.
Found the kidscot station right away. Nick decided he was bored with this so his mom had to take his mask over and get the stamp. I needed a smoke break so I told everyone I would meet them in Germany. They stopped at the Outpost and then joined me there. Both Lauras boys were born in Germany so they were excited to see everything in the German stores. Chris remembers Germany but Steven came back when he was just 7 months old so it was all new to him. Found the kidscot station, Steven excitedly announced he was born in GE so the CM wrote a note in GE on his mask. The sky was now completely clear and the crowds virtually nil so getting a good spot for Illuminations was not a priority yet so we moved on to Italy and then America. We stopped for a couple of minutes and listed to Bering Straight as they were finishing their performance (I wished David was with us, he really likes their music) and then went back to the Handicapped Viewing area in between Germany and Italy. It was completely empty! The CM actually looked happy to have some company. We put the ponchos on the benches and all sat down. LT and I struck up a conversation with CM about the College Intern program (okay confession, Ive been working on her for 5 days now about the program, trying to convince her to look into it - my son is totally uninterested and Im not sure Jackie would be eligible or able to do it because of her CP so LT is sort of my last hope.) This CM was so enthuastic that I think she would have signed up right then and there (especially when he told her about the partying). Hed been in the program since January and was scheduled to leave in early August. His family was going to be coming down for his last two weeks. The show started and it was beautiful. I even jokingly told everyone that I had arranged for all the smoke to blow away from us. I could not have asked for a better viewing area. This is Daves favorite thing at WDW so Im glad we were able to get it in and that it was as good as he remembered. Only wish David and my MIL had been with us. On the way out Dave ran ahead to try and find the guy on the Segway but was not able to. Oh well, I still love him and he really did try. Roz presented me with a small envelope with 50 Disney Dollars in it (guess that was the reason for the stop at the Guest Relations). She gave me strict instructions to spend it on myself. It was a nice thank you for planning the trip. We got back to the house by 10PM and quickly put the younger kids to bed. Tomorrow is our first off day so we sat around talking for a while and then every drifted off to their respective beds around midnight.
