Hi again everyone!
I'm checking in while I have the chance. I hope to post pictures here but I'm late for the pool and need to download, resize and post upload them to the net first. I think I'll be in the pool by then.
Anyway (while I'm waiting for my turn in the shower) I'll give you another update on our trip.
Thursday we all headed for EPCOT Future World. The plan was simply to take the kids to Future World and see what rides we could convince them to try. (The 6 y.o. get anxious about everything and the 8 y.o. imitates him.) Troubles did creep up.
First off, I woke up late. No morning walk as I had hoped to do. Instead I showered, dressed, and ran off to AP for my morning hot chocolate. I left instructions for everyone to meet at the park (my sis would have taken forever otherwise). On my way to AP I saw Alf the bus coordinator and asked when the next bus was: 10 minutes. No problem. That is until I returned a few minutes later and found my dad sitting in his
scooter talking to two other scooter drivers (DIS Tinkerbell's dad-in-law and grandma). They were headed to EPCOT too which meant we'd have to take two busses.
Alf got on the radio as soon as he saw us and tried to hurry up the busses while Tinkerbell's dad tried to find space on the very crowded EPCOT bus. Dad and I thought about the wait a minute then remembered we had a fully accessible minivan in the parking lot. So we told Alf to cancel the call and we'd drive. Next we know we're in a race to see if we can beat our scooter rivals to the park.
Now for those of you who have never seen an adapted minivan it is the coolest (and most expensive) ride you'll ever see. Press a button and the side door opens, ramp deploys, I drive in and park in the front passenger seat, start the car with the push of a button, my dad drives his scooter into the middle bay, closes the ramp and door (another push of a button), walks around to the driver's seat and off we go. We were pulling out as the bus was still pulling up its ramp and the driver tying down the scooters.
We took the same route in, got a little held up at the parking booths (a load of coaches paid and entered ahead of us), but we were driving up to the gates just as our scooter buddies were exiting the bus lot. We all had such a good laugh over that we ended up sharing a breakfast at Seasons in the Land Pavilion.
Now for all you resort guests the lesson learned here is that a car gets you to the parks pretty much at the same time as a bus. The only difference is that you never have to wait for your ride. Downside is you'll have to keep picking up your car in the park lots.
Dad and I got Fast Passes for Soarin' and waited for my sis to arrive. She found us after breakfast just as we were going to Circle of Life. For those keeping tabs yes it is a movie and yes my 6 y.o. nephew fears movies. Just as we sat into the theatre when the lights dimmed, he started wailing that he needed to go to the bathroom. My sis was forced to take him out and all the adults groaned about another loooong day with a skittish kid. But just as we had planned to take turns sitting with him when he freaks, he decides he's going to see the movie with mommy. And he loves it. He declares he wants to do it again and again. Thus begins our day of "I'm too scared" followed by "I wanna ride again".
The boat ride at the land scared both boys until they went on. Then it was "cool". (The 6 y.o. dared me to ride Test Track with him instead. I said if he was too young to ride the boat he was too young to ride Test Track. That psychology worked apparently.) The Nemo ride scared them but was "great" and repeated about 3 times. Turtle Talk was a huge hit and we never could get them out of the Living Seas until they saw every fish.
This was also the day of the first rain. The downpour occurred just as I was off to get fast passes for Test Track. Of course it shut down the ride so none us ended up riding it that day. I got wet but it was a warm rain.
After after lunch we split up for the afternoon. We had the luau planned for 7:30 and Dad and I had spare clothes in the van. So we stayed at EPCOT and met everyone later for the luau. I'm pleased to say my sis' bus hopping worked perfectly as they made a round trip home to SSR to change yet beat us to the Poly. And the luau was a raving success for everyone. My BIL got to celebrate his birthday with a hula dance and cake. Both my sis and BIL celebrated their anniversary with an Hawaiian dance. And the boys learned their hula moves up on stage with all the kids. (We had them show us later after dinner and they amazingly remembered a lot.)
Friday was their last day so we started with breakfast at Chef Mickey's. Again we learned how easy it is to miss then beat a bus. As Dad and I were getting coffee, the Magic Kingdom bus arrived and departed at 7:40am. (I was there at 7:35am.) So rather than wait for the next one, we hopped in the van. We were arriving at Chef Mickey's as my sis stepped off the monorail.
Of course the boys loved Mickey and characters. My sis surprised me with a birthday cupcake (and a very nice signed placemat from the characters). Since my birthday is the only one actually in October, it was nice.
But after breakfast we decided to split up again. Seems our van was low on gas and put the engine warning light on. So my dad and sis went off to the Car Care Center near Richard Petty. I walked over to Magic Kingdom with my BIL and the boys. I needed to stay with them as I had the only cell phone. We rode Buzz a couple times, then the boys did the Indy cars. It was an absolute mob there, btw. The last couple days have seen some of the biggest crowds I've ever seen.
By the time my sis and dad arrived my 6 y.o. nephew was willing to try the Laugh Factory. Yes, this is an attraction he absolute freaked about Tuesday. But today I used my psych degree on him. He loudly announced he needed to use the bathroom just as we were in the pre-show area. So I asked him to name all the characters in Monsters Inc. The distraction helped him keep it together until we all sat down inside. Then he laughed harder than anyone and announced he wanted to do it again.
Next game Buzz again. Then the Jungle Cruise. I had ridden that the previous week and learned they would let kids drive the boat if they asked. So I talked the kids into doing it. For the 6 y.o. it came down to a little white lying. He asked if he had ridden it before. I said yes when he was 4 but he was too short to drive the boat. So then he was eager to do it again. And both boys did captain and received their official captain licenses.
We left by afternoon parade's end. It did threaten to rain again and we did get lost for a bit (my BIL really needs to carry his cell phone!), but we ended the day at the pool. SSR was showing Aladdin at 8:15 and everyone seemed to catch on. All the good tables were taken by 6pm as families settled in for the night of pool, dinner and movie.
All in all it was such a successful day that my sis and BIL started to think of returning next year instead of two years. For dad and I, well be careful what you wish for, I guess.
For me personally, well it was good and bad. I enjoyed introducing my sis to my
Disney vacations but I didn't really get a chance to ride some of the harder to board rides. My sis was simply too busy keeping her skittish kids and "hates walking" hubby happy to help me and dad. I was hoping to ride Pirates for the first time in 3 years but I just never got the help or had the opportunity. (I sure wish they had updated the boarding procedures in their last face lift. When you have a disability you can be very impressed and horribly disappointed with the accessibility here. Magic Kingdom is the absolute worst because it is so old.)
Saturday we all checked out, spent the day at DTD and sent my sis home via the Magical Express. It was a truly rotten pool day with clouds and rain, so after my dad and I checked into our accessible studio (next door to the 2bedroom) we ended up doing a bit of late night park hopping. (MGM for Mermaid, then MK for parade, fireworks and 3 or 4 rides.)
This morning we're back to our normal routine. Up at 7-8am, coffee at AP and a walk through the resort (we did the Grandstand/Carousel route this time). We discovered the pool lift works in the spa as well so the lifeguards have that all set up for me.
And as predicted I'm fresh out of time so no pictures. But I will post some later. I have a ton, including those of the construction at the Contemporary
(it's even more than when I looked last week).
We return in Nov and I hope I don't have to pack sheets to take with me....
D's nose was broken. It was very busy at the pool that night and not alot of people paying alot of attention to the mouse guards!!
