Our 2nd Trip to Disney! Did it Measure Up? (w/pics) **THE END**

[scottny]

great update and pi..wait a minute no pics. I could not imagine leaving my camera in the room.
I might have eaten at PTC and have a different review then u.

 

[earthfaries]

What a great day you all had!

You know after all my visites to DHS, I have never done the Indiana Jones show, Lights Motor, Action, One mans dream, and a bunch of other stuff too!

Glad you guys had good weather, and I can just imagine ( I thought about it many times this past trip as I was the official picture taker AND video camera operator!) how nice it would be to have a day off of from taking pics!

BTW, I'm really enjoying your TR and all the great pics ​

 

[carissanboys]

great update and pi..wait a minute no pics. I could not imagine leaving my camera in the room.
I might have eaten at PTC and have a different review then u.

Hmmmm...can't wait to read about your experience.

What a great day you all had!

You know after all my visites to DHS, I have never done the Indiana Jones show, Lights Motor, Action, One mans dream, and a bunch of other stuff too!

Glad you guys had good weather, and I can just imagine ( I thought about it many times this past trip as I was the official picture taker AND video camera operator!) how nice it would be to have a day off of from taking pics!

BTW, I'm really enjoying your TR and all the great pics ​

The only things I haven't done yet at DHS are the two major attractions (TOT and RNR, and I probably never will) and Beauty and the Beast (I think that's all I haven't done anyway). We also haven't seen Fantasmic.

I'm glad you're enjoying it

 

[Native NYer]

Love all of the photos! You're tr is beginning to convince me that HDDR should be a must for our August trip!

 

[carissanboys]

Love all of the photos! You're tr is beginning to convince me that HDDR should be a must for our August trip!

It's really a lot of fun for the whole family. And it's at Fort Wilderness - can't beat that!

 

[carissanboys]

We headed in to Epcot and got there right around opening

Another nice day.

We headed to Test Track to get that out of the way. There wasn't any wait so Chuck, Memere, Pepere, and Sully went on while I waited with the younger two. This was Memere's first time riding.

Here's some pictures of an empty Epcot:

It seemed to be taking the gang an awfully long time to come out. I figured maybe there was a longer wait than we'd thought.

Finally, we see them exit. They ended up riding twice because after their first time they were getting ready to switch tracks or something and asked if they wanted to go again. Memere liked it, but twice was more than enough for her!

We sent Chuck to Soarin' to get FP's for everyone while we headed to the Seas Pavilion. Pepere decided he wasn't interested in riding Finding Nemo again so he stayed outside to smoke.

Nemo was Nemo. Marlin's still looking for him. 'Nuff said.

We did a quick stop in the kids' area:

Chuck was waiting for us when we came out and Owen, myself and my parents got photopass pictures in front of the fish. It was the first time we got that done. I like the one where we're making fish faces

We knew we wanted to take my parents on Living With the Land and we had time to kill before we could use our FP's. My parents loved it and we even enjoyed it the second time around.

Circle of Life was next on the agenda. I really liked it, although it depressed me and I had to fight the tears. Stuff about animals always chokes me up. I'm the type of person that can't stand to see one animal kill another on those Nature shows. Anyway, I thought it was worth seeing once.

We had just enough time to grab a snack at Sunshine Seasons before riding Soarin'. We figured we'd get Connor his lunch here (my fussy eater) and the rest of us would have a small snack to tide us over until our lunch around the World! We shared some fruit and Sunchips. Well, the rest of the gang shared that while I had a cold lentil salad. It was good. Different.

Chuck stayed with Connor while the rest of us got in line. We didn't have to wait too long with our FP's. For some reason, both times we rode Soarin' last time with FP's, we went in on the right - the ramp where you come out. So, this time we got to go in the REAL way and get all of the great theming at the beginning. We never got to see that cool video beforehand last time.

We sat in the front row, which was cool. We all enjoyed ourselves. We told Chuck he could ride and we'd meet him in the World Showcase, but he said he was fine and didn't want to ride.

We stopped for a picture in front of the upside down waterfall:

I took a quick shot of a VERY small tour group passing by:

It was now time to head to the World Showcase! A few pictures before we start:

I know Sully looks mad in that picture, but he actually wanted me to take it.

We headed to Canada first because Sully really wanted fish and chips for lunch (and Canada is next to the UK). We didn't spend a ton of time there, but I got some nice pictures:

To make up for yesterday's lack of pictures, I have a ton of our time in Epcot.

Up Next...Day 7 - Part 2

 

[dddisrunner]

Carissa, awesome update! I love all the pics. the one in the phone booth in the UK is so funny. It's so nice that your parents came with you on this trip. I would love to have my mom come but she is such a fuddy duddy The empty pictures of Epcot are great too...love that!

 

[disneyfanforlife]

Well I just got to read you tr. I love it so much. Your youngest sounds like a trip. I can't wait to read more.

 

[carissanboys]

Carissa, awesome update! I love all the pics. the one in the phone booth in the UK is so funny. It's so nice that your parents came with you on this trip. I would love to have my mom come but she is such a fuddy duddy The empty pictures of Epcot are great too...love that!

I've really enjoyed having my parents along. We're very lucky that they just go with the flow. And I really love to watch them enjoy themselves

Well I just got to read you tr. I love it so much. Your youngest sounds like a trip. I can't wait to read more.

and Thanks

 

[earthfaries]

It was so nice with low/no crowds wasn't it?

That's great they got to go on TT twice in a row! When we went there was no one there, and we asked to stay on and they said no every time

I love LWTL, I didn't get to do it this time though

I did do Circle of Life for the first time though, depressing isn't it, what we've done to the earth?

LOVE Soarin', so cool you got the front row, I always ask for it

The two days we were there the upside down fountain was dry! I really wanted to see it again Next time...

All your pictures are wonderful...I esp. love the pic of the big golf ball (SE)

Epcot is so beautiful and very photographic

Looking forward to more ​

 

[carissanboys]

It was so nice with low/no crowds wasn't it?

That's great they got to go on TT twice in a row! When we went there was no one there, and we asked to stay on and they said no every time

I love LWTL, I didn't get to do it this time though

I did do Circle of Life for the first time though, depressing isn't it, what we've done to the earth?

LOVE Soarin', so cool you got the front row, I always ask for it

The two days we were there the upside down fountain was dry! I really wanted to see it again Next time...

All your pictures are wonderful...I esp. love the pic of the big golf ball (SE)

Epcot is so beautiful and very photographic

Looking forward to more ​

Upside down was DRY?! No way

The more I go to Epcot, the more I see pictures of Epcot, the more I THINK about Epcot - the more I realize how amazing it really is. I want to spend a lot of time there on our next trip so that we can spend plenty of time in each country. There's sooooo much we didn't get to do on this trip (and so much we did! ).

 

[earthfaries]

Upside down was DRY?! No way

The more I go to Epcot, the more I see pictures of Epcot, the more I THINK about Epcot - the more I realize how amazing it really is. I want to spend a lot of time there on our next trip so that we can spend plenty of time in each country. There's sooooo much we didn't get to do on this trip (and so much we did! ).

I know, I can't believe it was dry!!!

Epcot really is amazing, I love it. The year before last we spent 3 days there. It was wonderful, we got to do everything we wanted!

My favorite attractions are at MK, I've been riding them since I was little and nothing , nowhere could ever be more special or better or magical to me than MK, It holds a special place in my heart, but I love Epcot, and every time I go I love it more and more. It is Trevon's favorite park, and I think I enjoy myself more there than any other park.​

 

[Liz]

Just got caught up! I loved that your dad was in the HDDR!!! Its such a fun show!! First "THAT GUY" and now this!

Its not hard to take a lot of pictures in World Showcase is it! So beautiful! And that's really cool it was so uncrowded!

Oh, and I feel the same way about animals!

 

[pamouselover]

Great Epcot pics. I love the flowers, spring!!!!!!!!! If I could get those to grow in my garden, I have tried a couple of times!

 

[Girldreamer02]

I am only on day 4 part 3, but I had to comment and tell you how much I loved your pre trippie and how much I am loving your trippie currently! Your boys are super cute and your town house looks so neat...almost makes me think twice about staying on property I can't stay away from my beloved AKL though. We already know we want to stay there again with a savannah view again. Perhaps we'll do the off property thing after we're married and have children. Can't wait to read more. Just wanted to know I've been here lurking for a few days trying to catch up Hehe. Keep up the great work!

 

[scottny]

Great update and pics. I love Soarin'. Actually I really had a great time at Epcot.

 

[carissanboys]

Just got caught up! I loved that your dad was in the HDDR!!! Its such a fun show!! First "THAT GUY" and now this!

Its not hard to take a lot of pictures in World Showcase is it! So beautiful! And that's really cool it was so uncrowded!

Oh, and I feel the same way about animals!

Just wait for today's update!

Great Epcot pics. I love the flowers, spring!!!!!!!!! If I could get those to grow in my garden, I have tried a couple of times!

I really love looking at those flowers right now because I want SPRING!! I want to plant some flowers in front of our house. I usually have a black thumb, but last year I planted some flowers at the end of June and they stayed in bloom until November!

I am only on day 4 part 3, but I had to comment and tell you how much I loved your pre trippie and how much I am loving your trippie currently! Your boys are super cute and your town house looks so neat...almost makes me think twice about staying on property I can't stay away from my beloved AKL though. We already know we want to stay there again with a savannah view again. Perhaps we'll do the off property thing after we're married and have children. Can't wait to read more. Just wanted to know I've been here lurking for a few days trying to catch up Hehe. Keep up the great work!

Thanks for trying to catch up If it was just DH and I we would totally stay on property! I think a townhouse is great when you have kids or a large group. I'd love to stay at AKL!

Great update and pics. I love Soarin'. Actually I really had a great time at Epcot.

Thanks I think Soarin' is amazing the first time you do it. After that it's still enjoyable, but I think it loses a bit of the magic. At least for me it did.

 

[carissanboys]

Now on to the United Kingdom!

I think I mentioned that my dad was in the air force for a while. This was back during the Vietnam War and somehow, luckily, he ended up being stationed in England. He has fond memories of his time there and I think he was looking forward to going back, even if only at the World Showcase (as an aside, he's really hoping we can get stationed there for Chuck's last tour - if we go overseas - so that he can visit).

On the way to the UK, Owen and Connor spotted a hopscotch grid chalked out on the street. They stopped to try it out:

First we headed to the courtyard with the hedge maze. This spot was so peaceful!! We all really enjoyed ourselves there.

Hidden Mickey!

Now it was time for some lunch! Here's where we got the fish and chips:

I loved that the young man that waited on me was English. We took our food back to the courtyard and found a bench to sit on.

I just had a small bite of Sully's, but everyone said they were awesome. I thought they were good, I'm just not a big seafood lover.

Sully, my seafood lover, gives them a thumbs up.

After we finished eating, my dad said he needed to use the restroom so we hung out in the courtyard to wait. A minute or so later he waves for us to follow him. The World Showcase Players were set up in the street. Chuck had taken Connor to the restroom to change his pull up so Sully and Owen were in the stroller. I pushed it close, but stayed back a bit. One of the players ended up pushing the stroller right to the line they have set up so I went to stand in the back next to my parents (more like lean against the building).

At one point, one of the players mentioned something about finding the closest stroller near you and tossing it up in the air. Sullivan's eyes got really big and he immediately, although slowly climbed out of the stroller and walked towards me. Everyone laughed so hard.

And then it happens again. The charm that is Richard/Pepere/Dad affects the girl in the show and she chooses him to be the king! At this point we were totally expecting it to happen. He must just have a look that says, "Choose me! Choose me!" I should mention here that my younger brother majored in theater in college so it does run in the family.

He had a BIG roll in this production of The Holy Grail.

Shortly after my dad went up, I saw Chuck and Connor coming back from the bathroom. I got Chuck's attention and then pointed to my dad. He started laughing.

Every time the audience said something, like "Hail the King" (I can't remember what it was), my dad was suppose to do a dance while singing, "Gitchy, Gitchy, Wa Wa, Ya Ya." He had such a hard time remembering this, which made it even funnier.

I thought he was cute. But, it was probably the accent more than anything that mesmerized me.

Pepere really got into his role:

In that last picture he's wearing the pin they gave him that said Honorary World Showcase Player. The guy that gave it to him (the cute one) said that if he wore that, he wouldn't be picked again.

Pepere looks like he's sweating a bit in that picture, which might be because he still had to go to the bathroom! He'd gotten sidetracked on his first attempt.

Up Next...Day 7 - Part 3

 

[earthfaries]

So excited to see another update, I love that I don't have to wait weeks inbetween

My dad was in the USAF for 20 years and he (we) were stationed in England for 3 years. E was born in Oxford.

Love the UK pics I can see it wasn't crowded at all

The pic of Owen and Connor together is so cute

The fish and chips look so good I will have to try them next time!

too funny about Sully and the stroller

That's great your dad got picked so much, how fun!!!

He looks like a perfect "the guy"

Poor thing, didn't even make it to the bathroom?!? What a good sport

Great update, can't wait for more!

​

 

[carissanboys]

So excited to see another update, I love that I don't have to wait weeks inbetween

My dad was in the USAF for 20 years and he (we) were stationed in England for 3 years. E was born in Oxford.

Love the UK pics I can see it wasn't crowded at all

The pic of Owen and Connor together is so cute

The fish and chips look so good I will have to try them next time!

too funny about Sully and the stroller

That's great your dad got picked so much, how fun!!!

He looks like a perfect "the guy"

Poor thing, didn't even make it to the bathroom?!? What a good sport

Great update, can't wait for more!

​

The military lifestyle suits me very well as I love to travel. I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but Connor was born in Australia. I think it's so cool that he'll always have that special connection with a country that I adore.

I'd love to be stationed in Englad so that we could travel around Europe cheaply!