Day 3 - Monday, June 6, 2005 - Part II
Cast:
Me: Trip planner, age unimportant, 2nd trip to WDW
Mimi My mom, 62, 1st trip to WDW
Maddie my niece, 12, 1st trip to WDW
Lauren my daughter, 11, 2nd trip to WDW
Special appearances by coworker Julie and her family (DH Bob, DS Tyler-15, and DD Josie-6)
After our morning in MK we headed back to CBR for some rest and pool time. Upon arrival, we found our first towel animal! It was a momma polar bear holding a baby polar bear! Very cute! Since Lauren got one last year we decided that Maddie got this one. The girls swam in the big pool and then we grabbed a snack in the gift shop (yes, I bought a few more souvenirs) and headed back to our room to rest. After much discussion (actually me saying so) we headed over to Epcot for the evening to start our tour of World Showcase.
I decided that my crew also needed to experience the bus system at WDW so we took the bus over. Had to wait through 3 MKs, 1 DTD, and 1 AK bus before our Epcot bus arrived. It was really only about 15 minutes. We got to Epcot and were bag checked and finger scanned and off we went. Whats this? No line for Spaceship Earth? Okay, off we go for another ride! Mom or Aunt Susie, can we do Figment again? Of course we can! No one can ever be sprayed by a skunk too many times. This time we didnt hang around to play after the ride. I still had bad memories from my camera dropping experience! We then headed for World Showcase and the Hats Around the World tour. I thought this would be a fun way for the girls to enjoy WS instead of seeing it as just a bunch of places to eat and shop. I was right! They had a blast!
We started in Mexico. I found the sombreros and Maddie suggested the shaker things (I am drawing a blank on what they are called). There was a band playing and the lady dancing got the girls to dance with her. On the next song, the girls pushed me out there to dance with her. Lets just say that you ladies in Mexico have no worries if you think I am going to come to your country and storm the dance scene.
Next up was Norway. The girls remembered the ship from the planning DVD so insisted I take their pictures while they were Vikings. In the shop we found hats with horns and braids and the girls decided to pretend to be opera singers. Then Maddie spotted the troll and we asked a passerby to take our picture. Only later did I realize that Maddie was sticker her finger up the trolls nose! Kids, gotta love em! The wait time for Maelstrom was 35 minutes so we decided to skip it. Maddie wanted no part of it after Lauren told her it was like IASW. I tried to tell her differently but she wouldnt believe me. Mimi wanted nothing to do with a ride that had a drop so I was out numbered on even coming back and doing it another day.
On to China! The girls found the pointed hats and bowed to the camera. After we took the picture Maddie heard the announcement for the Chinese Acrobats so we walked over to watch them. Wow! My back hurt just watching them. They were great! They seemed so young but looked like they were having a good time. After the show we walked around the pavilion some more and headed to Germany.
In Germany we found our hats and Lauren found the beer steins so the girls acted like they were taking a swig of beer from the steins. We looked at the trains and made our way out of Germany and over to Italy. When we got to Italy we were pleasantly surprised to see Pinocchio and Gepetto so we stopped for autographs and photos. There were no hats to be found in Italy and we really couldnt think of a hat that would represent the country so they posed by the fountain and did the hand kiss thing that Italian chefs do.
Next up is my favorite show in WS, The American Adventure. But, wait! Oh, no! The last show was at 8:00 and it is 8:05. Bummer!!! We walked over to the store and had a hard time deciding between the Uncle Sam hat and the Statue of Liberty hat. Statue of Liberty won out because she is a girl after all! The girls donned their hats and grabbed a couple of American flags and struck a pose.
Next up was Japan. The girls saw the kimono robes and all thoughts of hats went out the window! So instead of hats in Japan, we have robes and fans. The robes in this shop are gorgeous! I could have bought several of them and been happy but I abstained. Good girl, Susie!!
By now it was about 8:25 and frankly I was tired of walking! Oh, look! There is an empty space right up against the fence. I checked my Passporter map and sure enough, it was in the good viewing spot dark ray! We were just to the right of the big Japanese gateway. I hadnt planned on staying for Illuminations but I really needed to sit down and rest my feet. Now I must stop and apologize to a fellow DISer, WDSearcher. I told him/her that I would be perfectly happy to sit on the beach at CBR and watch the Illuminations fireworks. He/she said that I would be missing a lot and I scoffed. I humbly apologize. You were right and I was wrong. I watched fireworks from the beach but it was absolutely nothing compared to seeing the whole show at Epcot. Please accept my apology! (a copy of this apology is also posted on the thread that started the issue)
After Illuminations we headed toward the front of the park and I must say that the walk to Japan doesnt seem so long when you are stopping at every country! We finally made it to the front and waited about 20 minutes to get on a CBR bus. Back at CBR we sat out at our little are and caught up with Julie and family and made it to bed around 11:00. Oh, yeah, Maddie read or heard that Tuesday was EHM morning and MGM and her and Lauren decided we needed to do that. Great, now I have to get up at 6:00 am so I can be ready in time to wake everyone else up! Oh, well, what can you do?
Up next
Day 4 - I know where you sleep!
