Trip Report Day 2
6:00 am: We receive our wake up call from Mickey Mouse himself. DS answers the phone on the first ring. The cutest part about this is that DS actually talks back to Mickey. Mom! Mickey just called and said its time to get up ! Really? I ask. Cool! I roll over and try to go back to sleep. DS is now on my bed jumping on me. M---ooooooo---mmmm! Weve got to get up! Okay, okay. Im up already. Today is our Epcot/MGM day. I realize that trying to squeeze 2 parks into one day seems ambitious, but we only have 3 days total for the Disney parks so well have to just hit the highlights. We eat a quick breakfast in the room and arrive at our bus stop at 7:25 am. 7:30 is the time the CM from our hotel had told me that bus service starts. Well she is a big fat liar because just as we get to the bus stop we see the bus going to Epcot driving away. Now we have to wait about 20 minutes for the next bus. Luckily Pal Mickey tries to cheer us up. Did I mention that it is freezing this morning? I mean see your breath kind of cold. We are in Florida, arent we?
We finally catch our bus and take our place behind the gazillion, trillion, million other WDW resort guests waiting for opening. Everyone is taking their positions. I begin to get nervous. I think I even feel some sweat trickling down my back, despite the chill in the air. This is my competitive nature coming through. I whisper to DS, We are going to RUN to Mission Space, ok? Ok he says nonchalantly, apparently not appreciating the gravity of what I am saying. After having my bag checked and getting our cards in correctly after a few fumbled tries ..we start the sprint. HURRY!!! I am yelling over my shoulder. Poor DS is trying to keep up. He says he is getting a cramp. Darn it! I knew I should have made him do wind sprints for the weeks leading up to this vacation. So, being the kind mother that I am, I slow to a brisk jog. If I had my wits about me I would have grabbed fastpasses for Test Track first and then gone to stand in line at Mission Space ..but my brain is on autopilot and the destination is locked in: Mission Space. We have a very short wait. This is the best, the coolest, the most amazing ride EVER! DS gets to be Commander I am the Navigator ..which means he gets the really high-profile assignments while I do some dumb stuff like putting us into hypersleep. Big Whoop. I guess Im happy for him . Part of this truth about Disney making you feel like a kid again is that it also makes you think and act in somewhat immature and unflattering ways as well. In fact, I found myself wanting to stick my tongue out at a number of people during our trip. Not good.
As soon as the ride is over, we grab fastpasses so we can do it again. We head to Test Track but there is already a 30 minute wait and we just used up our fastpass option for a little while. I want to go to Cranium Command and Body Wars but The Wonders of Life section is closed. Bummer. DS is hungry so we get him a hot chocolate and a big gooey cinnamon bun and I get a coffee. For this we are charged a small fortune. We head to Spaceship Earth where we enjoy our snacks while we ride. We then head over to do the Energy ride w/Ellen as our guide but with the wait it would have eaten up 45 minutes of our time. No can do ..we walk around for a bit until it is our time to do Mission Space again. We join up with the two other members of our mission crew a mother and her daughter. Daughter: Mom, what if I get sick? Mother: Why would you get sick? Daughter: The sign says if you are motion sick you shouldnt do this one. Mother: It does? Uh-oh .well, its too late now.
OH GREAT! I really do not want to find out what it is like to see this girls breakfast in a gravity free environment, not to mention the little brat er girl is the Commander. I offer the woman a chewable motion sickness pill. I pray it will have time to take effect.
The second time around, I am given another boring set of duties as Engineer. DS is pilot this time. (this is SO not fair and I briefly entertain the idea of FORCING him to let me be the pilot but I dont in the end) The ride is equally exhilarating the second time around. Luckily, the little girl manages to hold down her Mickey waffles and get us to Mars.
Back to Test Track .the wait is over an hour and the fast pass wont be good until much later in the afternoon when well be at MGM. Too bad. We decide to head over to MGM now.
The two biggies on our list at MGM are Tower of Terror and Rock n Rollercoaster and of course, they are on the other side of the world. Looks like there will be more running involved. Hurry! We grab fastpasses for RnR and stand in a 30 min. line for Tower. I dont usually get nervous about a ride but by the time we had gone through all of the preshow stuff, my mouth was dry and my legs were shaking. The doors of the elevator close and we are dropped. And dropped again, And again. This is a crazy ride. I cant decide if I love it or hate it. DS loves it and is very proud of himself for riding it. Afterwards we head to Star Tours. Great! We love it. We do it again. By now it is 11:30 time for our reservations at Sci-Fi. We love the theming .makes you really believe you are at a drive-in movie theater at night in the 50s. We are seated in the backseat of the car which to tell the truth kind of irks me because there are lots of empty cars. I consider asking for a front seat, but I figure we have done pretty well in the great seat department up until now, and decide to let it be. The waiter rollerskates over and takes our order, referring to us as hitchhikers. DS orders a cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate shake. I go for the reuben, fries and a diet soda with a glowing ice cube! (As you can see, I have completely abandoned my earlier idea about avoiding carbs) The sandwich is fabulous though it is HUGE. I do end up taking off most of the bread just because I am getting too full. The crinkle cut fries are hot, crisp and yummy, not greasy at all! 5/5 stars for me. DS loves his meal too but is only able to eat about half of his burger. The shake, however, is consumed in its entirety. He rates his meal 5/5 as well. The movie clips and commercials are a hoot. DS is so entranced by them that he really does not speak to me at all. The food is on the pricey side .we paid about $40 for this meal + a tip, but the entertainment added to the value. The service was excellent. We would return here. In fact, I like it better than PrimeTime Café.
We stumble back out into the bright sunshine and have some time to kill so we check out The Making of the Haunted Mansion. Weve never seen the movie, so this was a bit boring for us. Finally it is our time to do RnR. The wait time is over an hour so we feel a little sheepish walking past all of those poor people! They glare at us as we go by. I think someone stuck their tongue out at us. The ride is wonderful ..the fastest, smoothest roller coaster ever! The fact that it is in the dark makes it even better. We wish we could do it again. This is SO much fun!
Next, we head over to the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. We are seated front and center with a few minutes to spare before the show starts. DS has finally hit the wall and falls asleep on my lap. I wake him up once the show starts. He really enjoys this show.
Outside, DS checks out the Indiana Jones gift shop and spends quite a bit of time weighing his many options. He finally settles on a rifle roughly the size of my four year old. Thank goodness we can have it delivered to our hotel. I dont imagine it would look good carrying that around in the parks. There is so much more we want to see and do here, but we are running short on time. We decide to head back to the hotel and soak in the hot tub before dinner.
After our brief respite, we take the bus to Magic Kingdom and are seated next to a mother and her two boys. DS strikes up a conversation with the boys about his Pal Mickey and soon they are laughing like old friends. What an ambassador that Mickey is. I briefly talk with the mom who is very sweet. We say goodbye at MK - DS says, Maybe well see you later! (Im thinking fat chance) Since we have about 30 minutes until our PS, we decide to try to squeeze in a few rides. Our first walk down Main Street is magical that is, until I decide to pick up the pace and say Hurry! Well, you know the rest. Bottom line: we manage to squeeze in two important rides: Pirates of the Caribbean and Thunder Mountain Railroad. I am satisfied that I can check them off of my to do list. I just KNOW I could slow down if we were here a week.
Dinner is at the California Grill on the 15th floor of the Contemporary resort. We take the resort monorail from MK and once again, DS gets to man the rail. Wow! It really pays to ask! Our priority seating is for 7:30 but we are told we may not be seated until closer to 8:00. We enjoy the most fantastic view of Wishes and love seeing the castle change colors. It is so nice that they pipe the music from the show into the restaurant really makes a difference. My first impression of this restaurant is, I am afraid, not good. It is VERY busy on this night and it is extremely LOUD! I would not choose this for a romantic evening. Lucky for me, that is not what Im here for. For the longest time there is not even an available seat in the lounge area in which to wait. Finally a couple gets up to leave and I zoom in to take the seats. Apparently, the woman behind me is unhappy about this as she must have been eyeing the seats as well. Oh well, you snooze you lose, I say! She makes a snide remark to her companion and once again, I feel the urge to stick my tongue out. Once at the bar, DS puts his head down and proceeds to fall asleep. I take the opportunity to order a Long Island Iced Tea for $5.25 (a bargain, by Disney standards) which is very tasty. I spend a few minutes admiring a group of 3 women (in their fifties, I am guessing) sitting next to us at the bar. They each have on a different Princess hat/headband with lots of glitter and ribbons. Im glad they are drinking adult beverages or they would realize how foolish they look. However, they are having fun and that is what its all about! I order DS a coke in the hopes that the caffeine will wake him up. He is crabby as all get out when I try to awaken him. He is practically in tears and says he wants to go back to the hotel. I briefly consider it but I have invested too much time here already and I am starving. Finally we are seated close to 8:30. This is the first time that having a PS hasnt been such a big help after all. We are not in a good mood by the time we are seated. Once again, however, we are seated at a window seat with a supreme view. I get the distinct impression that the couple across from us (that didnt get a window seat) is a little miffed that a mother and her child get the good seats. The man looks almost identical to Fred Flintstone and I am sorry to say that I cannot stop staring at him. I half expect him to yell out WILMA! at any moment. I look around to see if maybe Barney and Betty are supping nearby. No such luck. I glance at his feet to see if he is barefoot. Again, no. His companion looks nothing like Wilma and I begin to wonder if Fred is cheating. I am actually beginning to get mad at Fred. How could he do that to Wilma? She is nothing but loyal to him .cooking him up big slabs of meat, ironing his orange shirt/dress with black polka dots, carefully arranging her hair around that bone so as to look nice for him .. Our server appears and I snap back to reality. Oh, but Ive got your number Mr. Flintstone.
To start us off, I order the triple cheese flat bread; it is hot and delicious and we love it! Next, we try the goat cheese ravioli, which consists of one very large ravioli in a light tomato sauce, topped with chopped basil and portabello mushrooms. This is one of those dishes you just cant forget. Lucky for me, DS had no interest in trying it. Unbelievably good. For the main entrée, I have the chicken breast filled with maytag blue cheese, raisins, and serrano ham which is accompanied by a root vegetable puree and a Riesling sauce. This is a truly scrumptious combination of flavors. My sleepy date has the kids fish and chips which he says are very good, though he falls asleep again after only a few bites. This must be what it is like to date a narcoleptic. I order some coffee, add lots of cream and sugar and force DS to drink it. NOW he is awake. Just in time too, Fred offers to take our picture for us. How very nice of him. I think to inquire about Wilma but decide to leave it alone. For dessert DS and I share the Valrhona Molten chocolate cake with a scoop of raspberry sorbet. This is too good to believe. The total bill is $76.41 +tip. The service was excellent once we were seated and the food really is divine but I still cant get past how loud it is. I would go back, but not in search of a quiet meal. Food: 5/5 Service: 5/5 Atmosphere: 3/5
I decide to get a taxi back to the hotel since the idea of taking buses that involve a transfer with my very tired and cranky child does not appeal. Unfortunately, I do not consider the fact that the taxi driver does not take credit cards and that I have used up my days allotment of cash. I offer him some of my sons Disney dollars. He is not amused. In the end he does take my Visa but not without a lot of grumbling. At least we are home and can go to sleep now! I think it is 11:00. Ill make sure not to ever have such a late PS again! What a day!
6:00 am: We receive our wake up call from Mickey Mouse himself. DS answers the phone on the first ring. The cutest part about this is that DS actually talks back to Mickey. Mom! Mickey just called and said its time to get up ! Really? I ask. Cool! I roll over and try to go back to sleep. DS is now on my bed jumping on me. M---ooooooo---mmmm! Weve got to get up! Okay, okay. Im up already. Today is our Epcot/MGM day. I realize that trying to squeeze 2 parks into one day seems ambitious, but we only have 3 days total for the Disney parks so well have to just hit the highlights. We eat a quick breakfast in the room and arrive at our bus stop at 7:25 am. 7:30 is the time the CM from our hotel had told me that bus service starts. Well she is a big fat liar because just as we get to the bus stop we see the bus going to Epcot driving away. Now we have to wait about 20 minutes for the next bus. Luckily Pal Mickey tries to cheer us up. Did I mention that it is freezing this morning? I mean see your breath kind of cold. We are in Florida, arent we?
We finally catch our bus and take our place behind the gazillion, trillion, million other WDW resort guests waiting for opening. Everyone is taking their positions. I begin to get nervous. I think I even feel some sweat trickling down my back, despite the chill in the air. This is my competitive nature coming through. I whisper to DS, We are going to RUN to Mission Space, ok? Ok he says nonchalantly, apparently not appreciating the gravity of what I am saying. After having my bag checked and getting our cards in correctly after a few fumbled tries ..we start the sprint. HURRY!!! I am yelling over my shoulder. Poor DS is trying to keep up. He says he is getting a cramp. Darn it! I knew I should have made him do wind sprints for the weeks leading up to this vacation. So, being the kind mother that I am, I slow to a brisk jog. If I had my wits about me I would have grabbed fastpasses for Test Track first and then gone to stand in line at Mission Space ..but my brain is on autopilot and the destination is locked in: Mission Space. We have a very short wait. This is the best, the coolest, the most amazing ride EVER! DS gets to be Commander I am the Navigator ..which means he gets the really high-profile assignments while I do some dumb stuff like putting us into hypersleep. Big Whoop. I guess Im happy for him . Part of this truth about Disney making you feel like a kid again is that it also makes you think and act in somewhat immature and unflattering ways as well. In fact, I found myself wanting to stick my tongue out at a number of people during our trip. Not good.
As soon as the ride is over, we grab fastpasses so we can do it again. We head to Test Track but there is already a 30 minute wait and we just used up our fastpass option for a little while. I want to go to Cranium Command and Body Wars but The Wonders of Life section is closed. Bummer. DS is hungry so we get him a hot chocolate and a big gooey cinnamon bun and I get a coffee. For this we are charged a small fortune. We head to Spaceship Earth where we enjoy our snacks while we ride. We then head over to do the Energy ride w/Ellen as our guide but with the wait it would have eaten up 45 minutes of our time. No can do ..we walk around for a bit until it is our time to do Mission Space again. We join up with the two other members of our mission crew a mother and her daughter. Daughter: Mom, what if I get sick? Mother: Why would you get sick? Daughter: The sign says if you are motion sick you shouldnt do this one. Mother: It does? Uh-oh .well, its too late now.
OH GREAT! I really do not want to find out what it is like to see this girls breakfast in a gravity free environment, not to mention the little brat er girl is the Commander. I offer the woman a chewable motion sickness pill. I pray it will have time to take effect.
The second time around, I am given another boring set of duties as Engineer. DS is pilot this time. (this is SO not fair and I briefly entertain the idea of FORCING him to let me be the pilot but I dont in the end) The ride is equally exhilarating the second time around. Luckily, the little girl manages to hold down her Mickey waffles and get us to Mars.
Back to Test Track .the wait is over an hour and the fast pass wont be good until much later in the afternoon when well be at MGM. Too bad. We decide to head over to MGM now.
The two biggies on our list at MGM are Tower of Terror and Rock n Rollercoaster and of course, they are on the other side of the world. Looks like there will be more running involved. Hurry! We grab fastpasses for RnR and stand in a 30 min. line for Tower. I dont usually get nervous about a ride but by the time we had gone through all of the preshow stuff, my mouth was dry and my legs were shaking. The doors of the elevator close and we are dropped. And dropped again, And again. This is a crazy ride. I cant decide if I love it or hate it. DS loves it and is very proud of himself for riding it. Afterwards we head to Star Tours. Great! We love it. We do it again. By now it is 11:30 time for our reservations at Sci-Fi. We love the theming .makes you really believe you are at a drive-in movie theater at night in the 50s. We are seated in the backseat of the car which to tell the truth kind of irks me because there are lots of empty cars. I consider asking for a front seat, but I figure we have done pretty well in the great seat department up until now, and decide to let it be. The waiter rollerskates over and takes our order, referring to us as hitchhikers. DS orders a cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate shake. I go for the reuben, fries and a diet soda with a glowing ice cube! (As you can see, I have completely abandoned my earlier idea about avoiding carbs) The sandwich is fabulous though it is HUGE. I do end up taking off most of the bread just because I am getting too full. The crinkle cut fries are hot, crisp and yummy, not greasy at all! 5/5 stars for me. DS loves his meal too but is only able to eat about half of his burger. The shake, however, is consumed in its entirety. He rates his meal 5/5 as well. The movie clips and commercials are a hoot. DS is so entranced by them that he really does not speak to me at all. The food is on the pricey side .we paid about $40 for this meal + a tip, but the entertainment added to the value. The service was excellent. We would return here. In fact, I like it better than PrimeTime Café.
We stumble back out into the bright sunshine and have some time to kill so we check out The Making of the Haunted Mansion. Weve never seen the movie, so this was a bit boring for us. Finally it is our time to do RnR. The wait time is over an hour so we feel a little sheepish walking past all of those poor people! They glare at us as we go by. I think someone stuck their tongue out at us. The ride is wonderful ..the fastest, smoothest roller coaster ever! The fact that it is in the dark makes it even better. We wish we could do it again. This is SO much fun!
Next, we head over to the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. We are seated front and center with a few minutes to spare before the show starts. DS has finally hit the wall and falls asleep on my lap. I wake him up once the show starts. He really enjoys this show.
Outside, DS checks out the Indiana Jones gift shop and spends quite a bit of time weighing his many options. He finally settles on a rifle roughly the size of my four year old. Thank goodness we can have it delivered to our hotel. I dont imagine it would look good carrying that around in the parks. There is so much more we want to see and do here, but we are running short on time. We decide to head back to the hotel and soak in the hot tub before dinner.
After our brief respite, we take the bus to Magic Kingdom and are seated next to a mother and her two boys. DS strikes up a conversation with the boys about his Pal Mickey and soon they are laughing like old friends. What an ambassador that Mickey is. I briefly talk with the mom who is very sweet. We say goodbye at MK - DS says, Maybe well see you later! (Im thinking fat chance) Since we have about 30 minutes until our PS, we decide to try to squeeze in a few rides. Our first walk down Main Street is magical that is, until I decide to pick up the pace and say Hurry! Well, you know the rest. Bottom line: we manage to squeeze in two important rides: Pirates of the Caribbean and Thunder Mountain Railroad. I am satisfied that I can check them off of my to do list. I just KNOW I could slow down if we were here a week.
Dinner is at the California Grill on the 15th floor of the Contemporary resort. We take the resort monorail from MK and once again, DS gets to man the rail. Wow! It really pays to ask! Our priority seating is for 7:30 but we are told we may not be seated until closer to 8:00. We enjoy the most fantastic view of Wishes and love seeing the castle change colors. It is so nice that they pipe the music from the show into the restaurant really makes a difference. My first impression of this restaurant is, I am afraid, not good. It is VERY busy on this night and it is extremely LOUD! I would not choose this for a romantic evening. Lucky for me, that is not what Im here for. For the longest time there is not even an available seat in the lounge area in which to wait. Finally a couple gets up to leave and I zoom in to take the seats. Apparently, the woman behind me is unhappy about this as she must have been eyeing the seats as well. Oh well, you snooze you lose, I say! She makes a snide remark to her companion and once again, I feel the urge to stick my tongue out. Once at the bar, DS puts his head down and proceeds to fall asleep. I take the opportunity to order a Long Island Iced Tea for $5.25 (a bargain, by Disney standards) which is very tasty. I spend a few minutes admiring a group of 3 women (in their fifties, I am guessing) sitting next to us at the bar. They each have on a different Princess hat/headband with lots of glitter and ribbons. Im glad they are drinking adult beverages or they would realize how foolish they look. However, they are having fun and that is what its all about! I order DS a coke in the hopes that the caffeine will wake him up. He is crabby as all get out when I try to awaken him. He is practically in tears and says he wants to go back to the hotel. I briefly consider it but I have invested too much time here already and I am starving. Finally we are seated close to 8:30. This is the first time that having a PS hasnt been such a big help after all. We are not in a good mood by the time we are seated. Once again, however, we are seated at a window seat with a supreme view. I get the distinct impression that the couple across from us (that didnt get a window seat) is a little miffed that a mother and her child get the good seats. The man looks almost identical to Fred Flintstone and I am sorry to say that I cannot stop staring at him. I half expect him to yell out WILMA! at any moment. I look around to see if maybe Barney and Betty are supping nearby. No such luck. I glance at his feet to see if he is barefoot. Again, no. His companion looks nothing like Wilma and I begin to wonder if Fred is cheating. I am actually beginning to get mad at Fred. How could he do that to Wilma? She is nothing but loyal to him .cooking him up big slabs of meat, ironing his orange shirt/dress with black polka dots, carefully arranging her hair around that bone so as to look nice for him .. Our server appears and I snap back to reality. Oh, but Ive got your number Mr. Flintstone.
To start us off, I order the triple cheese flat bread; it is hot and delicious and we love it! Next, we try the goat cheese ravioli, which consists of one very large ravioli in a light tomato sauce, topped with chopped basil and portabello mushrooms. This is one of those dishes you just cant forget. Lucky for me, DS had no interest in trying it. Unbelievably good. For the main entrée, I have the chicken breast filled with maytag blue cheese, raisins, and serrano ham which is accompanied by a root vegetable puree and a Riesling sauce. This is a truly scrumptious combination of flavors. My sleepy date has the kids fish and chips which he says are very good, though he falls asleep again after only a few bites. This must be what it is like to date a narcoleptic. I order some coffee, add lots of cream and sugar and force DS to drink it. NOW he is awake. Just in time too, Fred offers to take our picture for us. How very nice of him. I think to inquire about Wilma but decide to leave it alone. For dessert DS and I share the Valrhona Molten chocolate cake with a scoop of raspberry sorbet. This is too good to believe. The total bill is $76.41 +tip. The service was excellent once we were seated and the food really is divine but I still cant get past how loud it is. I would go back, but not in search of a quiet meal. Food: 5/5 Service: 5/5 Atmosphere: 3/5
I decide to get a taxi back to the hotel since the idea of taking buses that involve a transfer with my very tired and cranky child does not appeal. Unfortunately, I do not consider the fact that the taxi driver does not take credit cards and that I have used up my days allotment of cash. I offer him some of my sons Disney dollars. He is not amused. In the end he does take my Visa but not without a lot of grumbling. At least we are home and can go to sleep now! I think it is 11:00. Ill make sure not to ever have such a late PS again! What a day!
IVY 
