Myself - 38 Researcher and neurotic planner of all things
DH - 38 Definitely not a planner, but willing to go along with just about anything.
DD - 16 We surprised her by celebrating her 16th birthday during this trip. Her birthday was actually July 1st, but due to younger DDs softball schedule, the trip had to be postponed until now. She didnt know that this would still be considered her birthday trip.
DD - 11 (Will be 12 in September and already considers herself a teenager.)
Monday, August 5, 2002 - EPCOT day. Well, we were up early for our 9:00 PS at the new Princess Storybook Breakfast in Norway. I had just told the girls about this breakfast this morning as I wanted it to be a surprise. We got to EPCOT at about 8:20
a.m. and after passing checkpoints, were on our way. It was great being in EPCOT with the music playing, with no one else around. We made our way to Norway in about 5 or 10 minutes (far less than the 30 minutes we were told to allow) and were seated immediately. I had never been in Akershus and thought the restaurant was very quaint (not nearly as grand as Cinderellas castle, but certainly very charming). I was
surprised to see that there were quite a few empty tables. Hopefully they filled up later in the morning. We began munching on our muffins and the princesses began to circulate. The server gave DD 16 a birthday certificate and the princesses all signed it.
They also brought her a cookie to paint and eat. Even though shes a teenager, she enjoyed doing these little girl things. You can do things in DW that youd feel silly doing at home. Even though my girls are older, we all really enjoyed this breakfast and
highly recommend it to all.
After breakfast, we made our way for a FP at Test Track and then DD 16 and I went to get a locker for her birthday certificate (what can I say, she wanted it for her scrapbook and didnt want it to get wrinkled), while DH and DD11 went through Innoventions for a bit. We headed on over to Journey for our first ride since the rehab and were surprised to find that it was a walk-on. I do miss Dreamfinder and wish they would have just left this ride alone, but it was okay. Its been four years since our last trip to DW, so we totally missed the version without Figment - thank goodness! We played for a while with the stuff at the exit to the ride and had fun with that. We decided to skip HISTA. I know its a favorite for a lot of people, but weve already seen it quite a
few times and didnt mind skipping it. We headed over to The Land and saw that the standby line for the ride was about 30 minutes and we werent eligible for another FP, so we did Food Rocks instead. Again, weve seen this a few times and probably should have skipped it, but it was hot and we needed the rest. It was now time for our FP return for TT and we hiked back over there. We loved this ride, especially DH. We hit the gift shop and immediately got another FP for TT.
We were all getting hungry now, so we decided to get a bite at the Electric Umbrella and rest a bit - hamburgers for all, but DD 11, chicken nuggets for her (anyone sensing a theme here). We decided to do as much of WS as we could before our FP return for TT (which was still a few hours away). We began on the Canada side and made our way to the American Adventure. Today was the hottest day of our trip, or maybe it just seemed so because WS is so much concrete. We had brought those neck coolies from home and decided to use them today (they did help a little). After
AA, it was time to hike back over to TT for our FP. We then made our way over and did Body Tours (I browsed while the rest of the crew did this one - the VR rides upset my tummy) and Ellen and then walked onto SE. We made our way over the LS. What a
disappointment. On DH and my first trip 19 years ago, we loved Journey and LS. Not so anymore. They really should just close down LS and either rehab it or do something else, because this is embarrassing. Oh, well...
It was now time for our PS at Garden Grill. We were iffy on whether we wanted to do this dinner or not, but Im so glad we did. The food was very good and the revolving restaurant is quite nice. As far as character interaction, this was by far the
best. All of the characters came around several times and they brought a cake to DD16 and everyone sang HB to her. (I know it seems like we overdid the birthday business, but this was her Sweet 16 and we felt bad that we werent able to actually come on her birthday a month earlier.) Anyway, I highly recommend this dinner.
We decided to try to do the portion of WS that we hadnt gotten to earlier, starting on the opposite side. We rode Mexico (I hate to pick on Mexico because its one of the few countries that has a real attraction, but maybe some updated movies are in order), browsed and caught part of TON while we were rushing to get to
Shockwave. We really enjoyed this show, especially DD 16 who is a dancer and musician - highly recommend it! It was getting late, so we each got ice cream (Mickey bar for me - love it!) and caught Illuminations. This seems to be a lot shorter than I
remember from our last trip, but we enjoyed it. We slowly made our way out of EPCOT and back to the hotel - exhausted.
On an editorial note, I know that most people either love EPCOT or dont care much for it. Weve always enjoyed it; however, I think several of the attractions could use rehabs. Maybe because the park is more educational and less fantasy, the
attractions seem to get dated more quickly. I could do the HM or POC in MK a hundred times and still love them, but Ellen and LS are getting kind of old to me. Just my opinion. We still love EPCOT and still enjoyed ourselves immensely - how can you not enjoy yourself in DW?
DH - 38 Definitely not a planner, but willing to go along with just about anything.
DD - 16 We surprised her by celebrating her 16th birthday during this trip. Her birthday was actually July 1st, but due to younger DDs softball schedule, the trip had to be postponed until now. She didnt know that this would still be considered her birthday trip.
DD - 11 (Will be 12 in September and already considers herself a teenager.)
Monday, August 5, 2002 - EPCOT day. Well, we were up early for our 9:00 PS at the new Princess Storybook Breakfast in Norway. I had just told the girls about this breakfast this morning as I wanted it to be a surprise. We got to EPCOT at about 8:20
a.m. and after passing checkpoints, were on our way. It was great being in EPCOT with the music playing, with no one else around. We made our way to Norway in about 5 or 10 minutes (far less than the 30 minutes we were told to allow) and were seated immediately. I had never been in Akershus and thought the restaurant was very quaint (not nearly as grand as Cinderellas castle, but certainly very charming). I was
surprised to see that there were quite a few empty tables. Hopefully they filled up later in the morning. We began munching on our muffins and the princesses began to circulate. The server gave DD 16 a birthday certificate and the princesses all signed it.
They also brought her a cookie to paint and eat. Even though shes a teenager, she enjoyed doing these little girl things. You can do things in DW that youd feel silly doing at home. Even though my girls are older, we all really enjoyed this breakfast and
highly recommend it to all.
After breakfast, we made our way for a FP at Test Track and then DD 16 and I went to get a locker for her birthday certificate (what can I say, she wanted it for her scrapbook and didnt want it to get wrinkled), while DH and DD11 went through Innoventions for a bit. We headed on over to Journey for our first ride since the rehab and were surprised to find that it was a walk-on. I do miss Dreamfinder and wish they would have just left this ride alone, but it was okay. Its been four years since our last trip to DW, so we totally missed the version without Figment - thank goodness! We played for a while with the stuff at the exit to the ride and had fun with that. We decided to skip HISTA. I know its a favorite for a lot of people, but weve already seen it quite a
few times and didnt mind skipping it. We headed over to The Land and saw that the standby line for the ride was about 30 minutes and we werent eligible for another FP, so we did Food Rocks instead. Again, weve seen this a few times and probably should have skipped it, but it was hot and we needed the rest. It was now time for our FP return for TT and we hiked back over there. We loved this ride, especially DH. We hit the gift shop and immediately got another FP for TT.
We were all getting hungry now, so we decided to get a bite at the Electric Umbrella and rest a bit - hamburgers for all, but DD 11, chicken nuggets for her (anyone sensing a theme here). We decided to do as much of WS as we could before our FP return for TT (which was still a few hours away). We began on the Canada side and made our way to the American Adventure. Today was the hottest day of our trip, or maybe it just seemed so because WS is so much concrete. We had brought those neck coolies from home and decided to use them today (they did help a little). After
AA, it was time to hike back over to TT for our FP. We then made our way over and did Body Tours (I browsed while the rest of the crew did this one - the VR rides upset my tummy) and Ellen and then walked onto SE. We made our way over the LS. What a
disappointment. On DH and my first trip 19 years ago, we loved Journey and LS. Not so anymore. They really should just close down LS and either rehab it or do something else, because this is embarrassing. Oh, well...
It was now time for our PS at Garden Grill. We were iffy on whether we wanted to do this dinner or not, but Im so glad we did. The food was very good and the revolving restaurant is quite nice. As far as character interaction, this was by far the
best. All of the characters came around several times and they brought a cake to DD16 and everyone sang HB to her. (I know it seems like we overdid the birthday business, but this was her Sweet 16 and we felt bad that we werent able to actually come on her birthday a month earlier.) Anyway, I highly recommend this dinner.
We decided to try to do the portion of WS that we hadnt gotten to earlier, starting on the opposite side. We rode Mexico (I hate to pick on Mexico because its one of the few countries that has a real attraction, but maybe some updated movies are in order), browsed and caught part of TON while we were rushing to get to
Shockwave. We really enjoyed this show, especially DD 16 who is a dancer and musician - highly recommend it! It was getting late, so we each got ice cream (Mickey bar for me - love it!) and caught Illuminations. This seems to be a lot shorter than I
remember from our last trip, but we enjoyed it. We slowly made our way out of EPCOT and back to the hotel - exhausted.
On an editorial note, I know that most people either love EPCOT or dont care much for it. Weve always enjoyed it; however, I think several of the attractions could use rehabs. Maybe because the park is more educational and less fantasy, the
attractions seem to get dated more quickly. I could do the HM or POC in MK a hundred times and still love them, but Ellen and LS are getting kind of old to me. Just my opinion. We still love EPCOT and still enjoyed ourselves immensely - how can you not enjoy yourself in DW?
Krissy
