Move over Dumbo our circus is taking over! Surprise trip adventure!!

[Chicago Mo]

Yay for EpERcot! I don't blame you....at least you said "hi" to the castle as you were driving by on the monorail
I love SSE! And you and Meg make me laugh. I remember this afternoon from your FB pics. So much for the sunshine state!

we did say Hi! even blew a few kisses to it as we drove past! I LOVE taking the monorail to Epcot. it's one of my favorite things to do. Not staying at the Poly i didn't know if we would be able to... BUT WE DID!
SUN-less-State of Florida!!!

Great updates, Mo. You hit my two favorites at Epcot right off. Love yours and Meg 'a future pics!

Thanks Kathy!!! absolutely two fantastic rides!!! we were having the time of our life!!!

Finally made the party!!!

Slacker.. Like you had better things to do??

I was to tired at night to even think about posting pics or even getting on the dis..............

again.. I wonder why!!

Guess I am getting old!!!
Even if I hate to admit it

didn't you know once you pass the arch you turn 9 again?? No getting older

after the arch?? Feels like you aged about 10 years!!! NEVER should have left!

Ok have to go back and read your report but wanted to let you know I am here!!

Great pictures. My husband has a conference in WDW in November. I am going along. Our kiddos are staying at home. It's hard to take them out when they get in HS. Your trip report it getting me totally psyched for our trips.

OHHHHHHHHHH Adults trip!!!! I would LOVE to do an adult trip.. But my conscious would get the better of me leaving the kids behind..

you just saw how they reacted to go to Disney could you image if they found out we went without them?!?!

I miss watching the little bobble heads play football. My son played for 7 years in the TCYFL. Are your boys in that league? I wasn't sure if it's just the suburbs. I know he used to play teams from Oak Park. Those games were so much fun to watch. The Bears need to step it up a few notches. Two losses in a row??? Ugh! Have a great day!!

I am really not so clear in which league they are in?!?! You might be right.. we do play Oak Park. which might be our last game. I miss playing for the kids school... I like the catholic league so much better.

Bears?!? ugh. so disappointed!!!!! i can't even watch a full game. i have to turn it off now.


********************************************************************

after the game getting out of the car:
Matt- very nonchalant "I'm Stuck"


Zack coming in to rescue his injured Brother:


this is of course NOT going to go as "Planned"


Matt hugs his brother for thanks.. or should i say tackles.


i live in the nut house.


Does anyone watch Chicago PD?? the only reason i do is to support filming in Chicago, One of the guys here was an extra on last weeks show. If you blinked you missed it.
so i had to get a screen shot of it and have him sign it!



It's proudly hanging in my office as we speak!!! Jimmy will be on another episode soon!
been busting balls ever since..

life? Worked both jobs yesterday. Nothing special. Today?
I hope to go out to Dinner!


But first! Let's talk more EP-ER-COT!

 

[Chicago Mo]

I would have loved to see you, although it was just a day trip for us so we might have already been heading home by the time you got to Epcot. I need to do a better job of checking Facebook when we are at the parks and I know I have DisFriends around.

We haven't been on SSE in ages - we like it, it's just not a high priority with us. I'm pretty sure Charlotte is the only one who likes Figment, although we usually ride it each trip since she does like it.

So glad you guys found somewhere less crowded to spend your first day,

ALMOST missed your reply!

Yes you do! I must say Dis meets are a LOT of fun!!! and like you see.. Made some really fantastic friends from them!!!

we tried to so as much as possible this trip. who knows when we will get back.

as far as i knew epcot didn't have hardly any crowds. But by the time we got there maybe the crowds were already in WS?!?
Didn't care much as we were having a BALL!!!

 

[DMGeurts]

Yes - we definitely do EE... It's our FAV, wouldn't miss that for the world... but I can't tell you about that one yet - we are not there in my TR... It's a "can't be missed" update when I get there though. I am such a horrible BFF.

LOL about Matt getting stuck... I chuckled about that one all night long! Thank God for brothers. LOL

D~

 

[Chicago Mo]

Of COURSE we have to stop and play with anything that has buttons....







which turned into:







I don't know who's this one belongs too:



Might be Meg's...

I know her computer was giving problems with the key board.

what do you do when you walk out of there?!?!

You act like a kid... Tom and i were just so happy to sit and allow them to be the kids they are.















Using the fish eye made the midgets really look like little people!



I love the faces!!!





See the guy in the hat??? He was getting annoyed with us.. He was trying to get pictures of the jumping water.. TOUGH TOODLES DUDE my kids are playing!!! and i get the shot... Na na na na na...

Once finished playing with water we headed over to innovations!!
Wanted to see if we can grab some FP for Test track! The CM's working there was AMAZING! Two of them starting fighting over who was going to help me! i was laughing the Cm who one? The one from CHICAGO of course! We laughed really hard! She gave us a couple of them! Went and found the family who were in line for sum of all thrills..
Meg was thrilled to get this:



then i had the brilliant idea to go and smoke while they were all going to make their own coasters.. I'll go smoke and take a few pictures!!

When i saw everyone huddled against the doors...


Rain....


Oh come on people!! It's Epcot! it ALWAYS rains on Epcot day!

I truck on I have my handy dandy poncho on! I'm not scared of some rain! It's DISNEY RAIN! Totally different then home rain, Disney rain is delightful!


Then I walked out.

(The above is NOT my picture but was what it looked like may have been the same day?!?!)


The place was void of any life forms. i was lucky if i was able to see 6 inches in front of me. the rain was coming down that hard. I was walking in a FOOT OF RAIN!! Worse? I somehow got turned around and couldn't find the entrance to innovations!!! After my trudging in this MONSOON going on around me with no one to ask for help as apparently they got the memo there was a storm and to take cover and i didn't get this so called memo.. can't see anything i am SOAKED to the bone. walking around in the FOOT of rain water i finally found where my dear family was. At this time i am NOT a happy camper. <--- soooooooooooo putting that mildly find the family who is bouncing up and down telling me how wonderful their coasters were... as i am seeing red. i have squishy feet. my pants are SOAKED A pool wouldn't have gotten me more wet… One look at me and Tom knows I am not a happy camper. The kids ask the one question.

Is it raining?

Tell me that just didn’t come out of my kid’s mouth??? No I jumped in the little pool thing by the smoking spot… then proceed to tell them about what was going on outside. They shrug it off and begin to tell me again about HOW AWESOME the thrills ride is and how I HAAAAVE to try it. I try so hard to share in my families enthusiasm for their coasters and how I MUST try it.. ugh. FINE. I take one step and water is SQUIRTING out of my shoes. Splish splash in my gym shoes and socks. I am disgusted.
Thankfully the line for this thrills ride is crazy long, nope not gunna do it. Sorry guys it’s time to go back to the resort I CANNOT deal with being this wet.
I see the hurt in their eyes, there are things I cannot do. Walking around with wet feet is in the top 5.
Once we hit the exit the damn sun is out. The foot of rain I was walking in? GONE! POOF HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?!! I cannot be more serious when I tell you there was a FOOT of RAIN out there!!! Where did it all go?!?! Disney and magic is what I cough it up to. The kids look at me with puppy dog eyes.
Oh for the love of all that is Disney. We go to mouse gears. I bought a new pair of shoes and pants. Change clothes and I feel like a NEW PERSON! Honest to goodness the transformation felt like a million bucks!!! I was READY TO ROCK! First! We needed a snack:

Goofy kids... See Matt is WEARING the tin FULL of pins?!?! (The lanyard is a D~ original along with the adorable Cupcake purse Meg has!!!)

Num num num! with my new da ta daaaaaaaaaaa attitude lets to go test track! finally was able to smoke I was great! I did get a text from Tess told her where we were headed and hopefully she was going to meet us there!
Off we went!


Sun- shine- state.....


walking skipping happily down the road to Test track I SEE HER!!!!

IT'S TESS and CHARLIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

















Wait.... what.... Where?!? WHERE IS THE PICTURE?!?!? I swear to you guys there are pictures!!! Tess do you have one?!?!

after a very pleasant reuniting hugs and squeals of joy to see Tess and meet Charlie who is just the nicest person EVER we had to go and make our FP for test track!

WE LOVE TEST TRACK!!! LOVED IT!!! the kids had a BLAST making their cars, then watching how it did!!!! so much fun!!!
Getting on the ride one CM kept talking to Zack.. why? His name was Zach too! they had a wonderful conversation! after the ride CM zack asked my Zack if he liked the ride and asked if he wanted to ride again.. my Zack all of a sudden became "shy" and said no... WHAT?!?! CM Zack kept asking are you sure!?! No it's ok..
WHAT ?!?!?

Matt now educated Zack IF A CM ASKS IF YOU WANT TO RIDE AGAIN YOU SAY YES!
he said he felt bad blah blah Gah! who taught these kids manners?!?!

Zack makes a promise to always say yes when a CM talks to you or asks if you want to ride something you say YES!!!
Pixi Dust!!!!! we were pixi dusted and turned it down...

Lets carry on...






..

 

[KatMark]

You have to play AFTER Figment...it's a requirement.

And I loved your fountain/dancing water pictures. It brought back fond memories of when my kids did that when they were little.

IT ALWAYS RAINS IN EPCOT! I think it is in the rules somewhere. But I was laughing that you went out for a smoke and got drenched and had to buy new shoes and pants.

You know the saying...NO PICTURE, it didn't happen!

I'm glad you enjoyed Test Track. We aren't fans, but I know men and boys must love it.

 

[Chicago Mo]

They played in the mist for a while- it was starting to get late.. We were exhausted from the drive! so we started towards the front..



LIGHTS!!!! had to stop and play with LIGHTS!!! ohhhhhhhhhhh lights!!! this isn't something new to us.. not at all.. When in Disney you MUST APPRECIATE EVERYTHING EVERY TIME!


There are LIGHTS in the sidewalk!


And we LOVE THEM!



Matt's neck has to be hurting.. but he said no!





our FIRST Photopass Photographer.. Yes the first one we encountered.



Yeah that's all cute and the normal family...

Now we need a real family picture



Leaving Epcot.. we say welcome? yeah we are so backwards!!!




Back to:


my FAVORITE ALL TIME STORE



I LOVE the spanish moss!!!!


We were all starving by the time we got back! so we headed over to eat!
i got the shrimp Po boy


Matt got the shredded BBQ pork


a make your own burger for Zack


Tom got the cajon chicken thing


in case you were wondering Zack gives it a two thumbs up


I don't remember what Peanut got.

Matt wasn't into the pork so he and i switched... I AM SO GLAD WE DID! his was WAY better!!!!!

we waddled our way back to the room, showered then i heard SNORING.

Everyone was out!!!

We had a great first day, was pixi dusted without taking part in the pixi dust...

For a very LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG day it was finally time to sleep IN A BED! Between Friday and Saturday night it just felt like one long running day. Which was now over!

What's tomorrow going to bring!?! please anything BUT RAIN im going to grow webbed feet!!!


.

 

[Chicago Mo]

Yes - we definitely do EE... It's our FAV, wouldn't miss that for the world... but I can't tell you about that one yet - we are not there in my TR... It's a "can't be missed" update when I get there though. I am such a horrible BFF.

LOL about Matt getting stuck... I chuckled about that one all night long! Thank God for brothers. LOL

D~

but you can't go backwards?!?!? I confused! (nothing shocking here)
All he kept saying. "i'm stuck" with that goofy look on his face. i had to take a picture!! totally NOT help him out... someone had to help him. Zack to the rescue!

You have to play AFTER Figment...it's a requirement.

it really is... love watching kids going back to act their age!!!

And I loved your fountain/dancing water pictures. It brought back fond memories of when my kids did that when they were little.

ohhh good!!! Love giving you those memories!!!

IT ALWAYS RAINS IN EPCOT! I think it is in the rules somewhere. But I was laughing that you went out for a smoke and got drenched and had to buy new shoes and pants.

It does.. But i have NEVER seen rain like this! when i go out and there literally isn't ANY one around! NO ONE DESERTED!
by the way i LOVE my new shoes and most comfy pants in the world... I have them on NOW!

You know the saying...NO PICTURE, it didn't happen!

I FULLY agree with this.. I have NO idea where they are!!! I must go look for them!!! wonder if they are in another camera?!?

I'm glad you enjoyed Test Track. We aren't fans, but I know men and boys must love it.

Meg loved making a car too.. She is a tom boy at heart she will NEVER admit that.. but she is..

 

[luckylady]

Oh my gosh an 18 hour drive and a park when you got there, wow. After nine hours I don't go. Hats off to you for that. Love the picture you and Meg took. Can't wait to read more because it sounds like it's going to be a blast.

 

[Pluto0809]

Grrrrr!! How the heck did I miss this starting! Bookmarking my spot so I can come back and hopefully read tomorrow as long as work doesn't get in the way.

 

[STLMickeyMom]

What an awesome first day spent in Epcot (minus the rain and missing some pixie dust)! I just love all the pics of the kids. They look SO happy!

We love those lights too! We always have to stop and enjoy them!

Your "actual" family picture---cracking me up!

That pulled pork looks so good!!!!! We didn't eat at the resort much when we were there--dang! Now I'll have to go back!

 

[sweetpeaandevie]

wow!! that was very productive after driving all night. How were you not flat on your face?! I bow down to you......disney idol!!!

 

[vleeth]

Those fountains are so much fun. Love your family pics. We have trees covered in spanish moss in my yard.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

What a fun first day of the trip!

 

[Hardheadedwoman]

Loving your TR! OMG the big reveal video - it brought tears to my eyes!

I'm glad you finally reached the hotel, I was starting to wonder if you guys ran on no sleep! LOL

Lissette

 

[Elevationist]

Your family is so adorable! Your kids energy is wearing me out just reading and looking at photo!

I'm glad the MouseGear makeover fixed everything!

The QS at POR looks delicious. I have eaten at POFQ (which was good!) but never POR.

Hard to believe so much has happened and it's basically been one day!

 

[Llobal]

Hey Mo. Coming out of lurkdom to say hello. I originally followed your PTR from D's PTR but I'm really enjoying the fun y'all have. Carry on with the show!!

 

[solana131]

Hahahahaha....."Is it raining?" Oh the innocence

I'm so glad you bought new clothes and trudged on. You have more amazing memories because of it!

Love Epcot at night. Main Street is pretty awesome too, but Epcot at night is my favorite. I could spend hours just looking at SSE and those little lights on the pavement.

Have a great day Mo!

 

[ljcrochet]

I'm impressed doing all that after the long drive to WDW.

 

[MonsterWDWmom]

What a great day 1! Wow you fit a lot in.

Yes Florida rains are just amazing, I have never experienced anything like that before either!

Sorry about getting wet (wet sneakers are no fun!) but I am glad you were able to get dry clothes at Mouse Gears!

If I was your family I would have passed out to I mean just earlier in the day you were driving! and now you are leaving Epcot!

 

[Chicago Mo]

Before i get to replies i totally forgot to mention This first day we were supposed to meet up with "oragontoMommy" here on the dis or Shannon! She was going to be at FQ for her beignet fix!!! I was really looking forward to this meet!! we were texting telling each other where we were sadly it didn't work out!!! I just wanted to tell you i am still bummed we never met!!

Oh my gosh an 18 hour drive and a park when you got there, wow. After nine hours I don't go. Hats off to you for that. Love the picture you and Meg took. Can't wait to read more because it sounds like it's going to be a blast.

yes we did it! there would be NO way to keep the family away from a park after that reveal 19 hours of getting there then nothing. No Disney love?!? they might drown me in the pool...

Grrrrr!! How the heck did I miss this starting! Bookmarking my spot so I can come back and hopefully read tomorrow as long as work doesn't get in the way.

I dunno?!?! SORRY!!!
stupid work... when you can i did update the links page!!

What an awesome first day spent in Epcot (minus the rain and missing some pixie dust)! I just love all the pics of the kids. They look SO happy!

regardless of the rain and Zack turning down the first Pixi dust it was perfect!!

this is pure happiness in my kids eyes and faces. or delusional as we were in that car for too long.

We love those lights too! We always have to stop and enjoy them!

Must stop for the lights every time. I LOVE them!

Your "actual" family picture---cracking me up!

HA! Thanks!! yes the hey everyone smile pictures are really sweet. but we need to show our TRUE Disney selves!!!

That pulled pork looks so good!!!!! We didn't eat at the resort much when we were there--dang! Now I'll have to go back!

OM YUM is was scrumptious!!!
Yep! you must go back totally justified!

wow!! that was very productive after driving all night. How were you not flat on your face?! I bow down to you......disney idol!!!

it was done in Disney extreme rogue style! We were finally IN DISNEY! couldn't stop now!!! sleep later Disney now! LOL

Those fountains are so much fun. Love your family pics. We have trees covered in spanish moss in my yard.

The fountains are a lot of fun! fun to photograph too if you have the right sky. Not the flat it's going to monsoon any minute take cover sky we had.

What a fun first day of the trip!

we had a GREAT day!

Loving your TR! OMG the big reveal video - it brought tears to my eyes!

Awwwww Thank you!!!

I'm glad you finally reached the hotel, I was starting to wonder if you guys ran on no sleep! LOL

Lissette

Nope we were running on Disney adrenaline, all the way.

Your family is so adorable! Your kids energy is wearing me out just reading and looking at photo!

I'm glad the MouseGear makeover fixed everything!

HA! Mousegears Makeover! that's perfect!! it did! throw on some Mickey clothes and poof total attitude change!

The QS at POR looks delicious. I have eaten at POFQ (which was good!) but never POR.

It's fantastic! must try it!!!

Hard to believe so much has happened and it's basically been one day!

YES! we were GO GO GO!!!

Hey Mo. Coming out of lurkdom to say hello. I originally followed your PTR from D's PTR but I'm really enjoying the fun y'all have. Carry on with the show!!

HI! So glad your coming down and joining in!!!
they are nuts aren't they? thankfully i'm the normal one...

Hahahahaha....."Is it raining?" Oh the innocence

i just looked at them... duh.

I'm so glad you bought new clothes and trudged on. You have more amazing memories because of it!

your right! don't think you can ever forget that moment of walking out. DOWNPOUR and walking in a FOOT of water. Not a single person in sight!
that goes down into the books!!!

Love Epcot at night. Main Street is pretty awesome too, but Epcot at night is my favorite. I could spend hours just looking at SSE and those little lights on the pavement.

I cannot agree with you more! Loved just sitting letting the kids be kids and enjoying everything around us!
One of the promises i made for myself this trip was to STOP and ENJOY everything around us!

Have a great day Mo!

You too my friend!!!