The Weather Channel as well as local forcasters were predicting heavy rains for our first day. So we decided on EPCOT.
To us, EPCOT is the perfect place to go in the rain. We spent hours inside the many pavillions and actually would have felt like we were missing out if the weather had been nice.
But we didn't want to arrive if we could help it soaking wet. So when we woke and the sun was still shining, we hustled to eat and dress so that we could get to Epcot before it started raining.
Once again being only minutes from the TTC and then on to the express monorail made the commute extra-ordinarily fast. We were at EPCOT less than 15 minutes after we walked out of our hotel.
We made it in to the entrance. I have to pause here and talk about what became known in our family as THE WORST IDEA WDW EVER HAD. The infamous finger scan. Nothing was more annoying, slowed down the lines or drove us crazier than this. Half the time the machines were not working properly. The money Disney saves from the small amount of people who are kept from cheating cannot outweight the frustration to guests who may be in a little less of a good (spending) mood after this.
Anyway, we were stopped behind a rope line. There was only one party ahead of us. Unfortunately it was a party of about 100 girl scouts.And they seemed kind of like Girl Scouts from some sort of strange tough neighborhood. Many had multiple piercings and were wearing Goth lipstick and nail polish. Who were these girls???
It was hard to stand there listening to them crack their gum and (Oh my goodness) swear. There did not appear to be any adults with them, though they must have been there somewhere, right?
When the rope moved back we all fast walked to Test Track. We were a little nervous about taking the girls on there but had no problems. They loved it and so did we.
Still no rain, so we raced over to The Land. The first drops started to fall as we entered the building but for the next three hours we were busy at THE Land and did not have to worry about the rain at all.
The waiting time for standby at Soarin' was posted at only 20 minutes and it was more like 12. Now rememeber when I told you about DH's REAL name: "Soren." Well say it out loud. Yep, it sounds exactly like "Soarin'" OUr dd's thought this was the coolest thing ever. They kept telling CM's "My dad's name is Soarin' and the CM's kept saying 'really?" Then our dd's would make DH take out his license and show them. The CM's actually thought this was kind of cool and one gave us his Soarin' pin which was only available in California!
And we LOVED LOVED LOVED the ride. It truly was the coolest thing ever. As soon as we got off, we headed for the Fast Pass machine and got a pass for 12:30-1:30.
Next we did Living with the Land which is pretty great too. The kids then talked to a CM about some of the cool plants around the building. We could see it was raining so we were in no hurry.
We then went to Seasons. Wow. What an unbelievable place for a CS. Mike had the Salmon, I had the flat bread with beef. Sophie had the Chicken and potatoes. We were standing in line and Skylar was waiting for Mac and Cheese kids meal. But she was looking at the Ceasar Salad wishing she could have that. We started talking about it and I explained about kids meals. The CM spoke up and said "It does not matter, she can have the salad, its fine." So we ordered that.
Then we went to the bakery to pick up desserts. The girls eyes practically bugged out of their heads. We had brownies, a cookie and the "fruit tulip" which was fresh berries and chocolate in a crisp cookie. OMG it was fantastic.
We relaxed and ate. It was very nice.
By the time we were done it was time to use our Fast Pass. The standby wait time was 60 minutes so we loved just walking by all the people waiting.
Finally, it was time to go. We donned our ponchos and quickly reached Imagination. We spent almost two hours there between Honey I shrunk..., the ride and the exhibits. It was great.
The rain had let up by that time but the sky was still threateining. We ran to Mouse Gear and avoided the rain. At Mouse Gear we shopped for postcards for Skylar's friends and we looked around. By that time it was raining hard. Sophie needed to use a bathroom so we asked a CM if there was one there. His answer "no sorry, guess you'll have to get wet" UGH.
Well luckily some non-CM guest happened to hear. She came up to us and said "HE is dead wrong! Just go under the underpass to the Electric Umbrella" Well we did and we can't believe the CM didn't suggest it. It was easy and we stayed dry as dust.
We also found that on the other side of the restrooms was Inoventions. We didn't know much about it but wanted to avoid the rain. Well, it was just wonderful. The girls were happy as clams playing the games and we got to sit.
We could easily have spent even more time there, but we wanted to get back to the hotel to rest for a while before our dinner at Chef Mickey's.
Next: Dinner at Chef Mickey's or the beauty of low expectations.
To us, EPCOT is the perfect place to go in the rain. We spent hours inside the many pavillions and actually would have felt like we were missing out if the weather had been nice.
But we didn't want to arrive if we could help it soaking wet. So when we woke and the sun was still shining, we hustled to eat and dress so that we could get to Epcot before it started raining.
Once again being only minutes from the TTC and then on to the express monorail made the commute extra-ordinarily fast. We were at EPCOT less than 15 minutes after we walked out of our hotel.
We made it in to the entrance. I have to pause here and talk about what became known in our family as THE WORST IDEA WDW EVER HAD. The infamous finger scan. Nothing was more annoying, slowed down the lines or drove us crazier than this. Half the time the machines were not working properly. The money Disney saves from the small amount of people who are kept from cheating cannot outweight the frustration to guests who may be in a little less of a good (spending) mood after this.
Anyway, we were stopped behind a rope line. There was only one party ahead of us. Unfortunately it was a party of about 100 girl scouts.And they seemed kind of like Girl Scouts from some sort of strange tough neighborhood. Many had multiple piercings and were wearing Goth lipstick and nail polish. Who were these girls???
It was hard to stand there listening to them crack their gum and (Oh my goodness) swear. There did not appear to be any adults with them, though they must have been there somewhere, right?
When the rope moved back we all fast walked to Test Track. We were a little nervous about taking the girls on there but had no problems. They loved it and so did we.
Still no rain, so we raced over to The Land. The first drops started to fall as we entered the building but for the next three hours we were busy at THE Land and did not have to worry about the rain at all.
The waiting time for standby at Soarin' was posted at only 20 minutes and it was more like 12. Now rememeber when I told you about DH's REAL name: "Soren." Well say it out loud. Yep, it sounds exactly like "Soarin'" OUr dd's thought this was the coolest thing ever. They kept telling CM's "My dad's name is Soarin' and the CM's kept saying 'really?" Then our dd's would make DH take out his license and show them. The CM's actually thought this was kind of cool and one gave us his Soarin' pin which was only available in California!
And we LOVED LOVED LOVED the ride. It truly was the coolest thing ever. As soon as we got off, we headed for the Fast Pass machine and got a pass for 12:30-1:30.
Next we did Living with the Land which is pretty great too. The kids then talked to a CM about some of the cool plants around the building. We could see it was raining so we were in no hurry.
We then went to Seasons. Wow. What an unbelievable place for a CS. Mike had the Salmon, I had the flat bread with beef. Sophie had the Chicken and potatoes. We were standing in line and Skylar was waiting for Mac and Cheese kids meal. But she was looking at the Ceasar Salad wishing she could have that. We started talking about it and I explained about kids meals. The CM spoke up and said "It does not matter, she can have the salad, its fine." So we ordered that.
Then we went to the bakery to pick up desserts. The girls eyes practically bugged out of their heads. We had brownies, a cookie and the "fruit tulip" which was fresh berries and chocolate in a crisp cookie. OMG it was fantastic.
We relaxed and ate. It was very nice.
By the time we were done it was time to use our Fast Pass. The standby wait time was 60 minutes so we loved just walking by all the people waiting.
Finally, it was time to go. We donned our ponchos and quickly reached Imagination. We spent almost two hours there between Honey I shrunk..., the ride and the exhibits. It was great.
The rain had let up by that time but the sky was still threateining. We ran to Mouse Gear and avoided the rain. At Mouse Gear we shopped for postcards for Skylar's friends and we looked around. By that time it was raining hard. Sophie needed to use a bathroom so we asked a CM if there was one there. His answer "no sorry, guess you'll have to get wet" UGH.
Well luckily some non-CM guest happened to hear. She came up to us and said "HE is dead wrong! Just go under the underpass to the Electric Umbrella" Well we did and we can't believe the CM didn't suggest it. It was easy and we stayed dry as dust.
We also found that on the other side of the restrooms was Inoventions. We didn't know much about it but wanted to avoid the rain. Well, it was just wonderful. The girls were happy as clams playing the games and we got to sit.
We could easily have spent even more time there, but we wanted to get back to the hotel to rest for a while before our dinner at Chef Mickey's.
Next: Dinner at Chef Mickey's or the beauty of low expectations.
