February 7, 2009
Today was the day! The day she had waited so long for!
After a year of engagement, Tessa would finally meet Luke today! You see, it all started when I posted this picture of Tessa in February of 2008:
Luke fell in love with her super-cool boxing moves. Then, Tessa saw a picture of Luke with a fish...
and it was all over. They were head over heels. They decided they would marry each other.
Tessa was bouncing off the wall in the morning because she knew she was meeting Luke today. But, she didn't realize that we weren't meeting them until around 7:00pm at Downtown Disney!
So, I let her down easy by telling her we were going to Epcot to ride Soarin'! She rode this on our May trip and LOVED it!
We all got ready and made it to Epcot around 9:00, but not in time for rope drop. We rushed over to The Land to grab our Fastpasses for Soarin'. I was hoping that we could get in the standby line and then ride again with the fastpasses, but the line was already 45 minutes long, so we passed.
While we were waiting to use our fastpasses, we decided to jump in the Living With the Land ride. Yes, there was actually a short line. It was only a few minutes long and we were on our way. I actually like this ride and the kids really enjoyed it.
It was while we were on the ride that I realized that I'd left my camera outside in the stroller.
So, I stole some pictures from various sites around the internet, just for you!
I got a kick out of this Mickey pumpkin with the tag:
This tomato tree reminded us of our garden last year. We had TONS of cherry tomatoes! YUM!
We still had a while before our fastpasses were good, so we actually...went...into...The Circle of Life!!!! I KNOW!!! What were we thinking? I knew everyone says it's really bad, but I didn't remember it. We didn't want to leave The Land and then come back because we're too lazy. So, we went and waited for the movie to start. Do they really need a sign announcing that this movie is 100ft ahead?
We were sitting next to a family who had a baggie full of food. The mother was holding the baggie out to her kids and saying take ONE thing, just ONE! I was confused because the bag had whole prunes, along with raisins and nuts. So, what were they supposed to do if they wanted nuts? Take one peanut? I'd say the kid who likes prunes was definitely getting the best end of that deal.
Any-hoo. We watched the movie, which was SOOOOO annoying. Then, we left. The kids enjoyed it a reasonable amount, I suppose. What I found stupid about this theater is when you leave, you have to walk down (or up, I don't recall) a flight of stairs. How safe is it to have a whole theater full of people trying to navigate a fairly narrow stairway?
It was finally time to ride Soarin'! Poor Sawyer couldn't ride it because he's just a bit too short. He stayed with mom while Tessa and I got in the fastpass return line. The very long fastpass return line. The very long, unmoving, fastpass return line. We waited in line for 25 minutes in the fastpass line! I was un-pleased! Tessa made a new best friend in line and they were busily chatting away. The little girl's mother was decidedly unfriendly, so I chatted with her daughter instead.
We finally made it to the queue area and the little girl ended up in a different row. Tessa was upset about that, but what can yah do? We watched Putty (or is it Puddy?) tell us about the ride and then went in and took our seats. The ride started out great with Tessa squealing with delight and the guy next to her smiling at her like she was the cutest thing he'd ever seen.
Then, it started...
"HOLY ****!! Did you see that ****? My feet almost kicked the **** out of that ****!" This was coming from a guy in the row next to us. He was probably in his 60's and appeared to be with his wife and family. I was upset about his language, but assumed that his wife would "shush" him and that would be the end of it. But, NO!!! The guy's filth spewed all the way through the ride. He was having the time of his life, but using 100's of expletives to express it. It was torture. I said rather loudly "Sir, there are children on this ride, please watch your language." Either he didn't hear me, or he didn't care, because he just kept it up. I didn't see anyone talk to this man when the ride ended. So, I imagine he went on to foul the air for the rest of the day. I planned to give him a piece of my mind when we got off, but I couldn't catch up to him. Plus, I was thinking he might be some sort of nutcase, so that wouldn't be a good idea.
UGH! I'm still mad that he ruined one of the best rides at Disney for us! I don't know if Tessa even noticed him. She never said anything about it, so that's good!
We went to find mom and Sawyer and they were sitting on a bench enjoying a bag full of Mickey pretzels. Apparently, you can get a little bag of pretzels for less than $1.00!! A total bargain for Disney!
We swapped kids and Tessa and Mom went off to ride. Sawyer and I were sitting next to a grandma who was taking care of her little grandson who was about 7 months old. He was happily cooing and such at his grandma until he realized that his mommy was nowhere to be seen. Then, he started crying. The grandma instantly tensed up and started frantically jostling him around, trying to get him to stop crying.
Watching her with her grandchild made me thankful once again for my wonderful mother. My mom just knows what to do with babies. I don't think I've ever seen her get that way because a baby was crying. She is just a natural born mother/grandma/nurturer. *sigh*
Mom and Tessa also waited 25 minutes to get on the ride. What was up with the fastpass line? When they came out, we headed over to Sunshine Seasons (which is right inside of The Land) to eat lunch. This place has 4 different areas where you can get different types of food. Everything looked pretty yummy, but I was in a sandwich kind of mood after the delicious sandwich I had at Animal Kingdom. So, I tried this little beauty:
Remember, I had to steal these pictures, so I didn't have that yummy looking dessert, just the sandwich. They had some REALLY delicious looking desserts in the bakery area, but I refrained. I planned to get my first Mickey bar of the trip later on.
The sandwich was pretty good, but not as good as the AK one. I got Sawyer a mini sandwich. That thing was AWFUL! The bread was so hard he would have broke his teeth on it if he had tried to eat it. The cheese on the sandwich was also rock hard. The only thing he ended up eating off of it was the turkey. Mom and Tessa shared some chicken.
We had a really nice time just sitting and people watching while we were eating. So, we took our time.
I looked over at Living with The Land and realized that there was a LOOONG line! It was actually going through the entire queueing area! Yes, people were waiting for Living With The Land- in February!!!
I was missing Teresa, so we gave her a call. We chatted for quite a while and talked about all of the really cool things that had happened so far (Tessa getting a rose, the song guy at AK, etc...). I also got to talk to Lydia and Arminda for a little while.
I had to use the restroom, but I thought I'd wait until we got to The Seas. However, as soon as I stepped out of The Land, I knew that wasn't an option. I seriously thought I was going to pee my pants. I must have drank more water than I thought! We couldn't find a bathroom right there, so we had to wander to find one. I thought I was gonna die! Then, I spotted one!!
This is where I took the very first picture of this day.
Crisis averted, we went out and looked at the water outside. The kids were just thrilled with the fish and ducks below.
I held the camera down towards the water to get this picture of Tessa.
Sawyer is a Nemo lover, so he was really looking forward to the Nemo ride. I got this picture of him as soon as we got in our shell.
The CM working that area made sure to tell me in a not-too-friendly voice "There is NO flash photography on the ride."
So, I took this picture of myself.
I took this one without a flash, because I can be a good girl if I wanna be.
Sawyer "oohed" and "aaahed" over the fish and the Nemos. It was adorable! He was a little leery of the part with the sharks, but overall he loved it!
We went straight over to Turtle Talk With Crush and got right into the waiting area. The kids joined some fancy princesses and looked at some stingrays.
Both kids sat up front (I wasn't sure they would) and Mom and I sat in the front row.
It was then that I realized I had to pee AGAIN. REALLY BAD! Sheesh! I don't generally have these issues! So, I don't even remember the show.
All I could think about was getting out of there and using the bathroom. But, I didn't want to stand up and exit and have Crush call me out!
After what seemed like an eternity, I made a mad dash for the exit and headed straight for the bathroom.
The kids were happily watching the manatees with mom when I returned.
We wandered around and looked at fishies for a while. Is it wrong that I think this place is pretty darn boring? I like the manatees and I could watch them for quite a while. But, besides that it all looks kind of dull and ugly.
Sawyer loved finding Nemo and Dory in the little tanks.
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Im very excited that you have a new one!
, so she rarely allows me to visit that great place! However, that talking garbage can did manage to win even her over in 2006, as well. It was the highlight of our trip that year, too! We chatted with that recycling bin for like 30 minutes. 
Don't let Teresa hear you say that!
But she does like Leighanna's "beautiful crown". 
