So while Tom was collecting FPs, my parents and I started the (very) long walk to Italy. All of the walking at Disney has never really bothered me but I spend all day on my feet (and - more recently - have been training for a half-marathon). It was clearly going to be an issue for my mother. We were running a bit behind schedule (thanks to the s-l-o-w CM at Poly) and I wanted to get to Via Napoli for our ADR. But I needed to slow myself down. We made it!!!
We checked in and waited maybe 2 minutes for our table. We were seated near the entrance to the restaurant. We'd eaten here in August when it first opened and really like it. One thing I like about this restaurant is how friendly the service is. So accommodating and nice! Nathaniel and Jessica split a children's pasta (another advantage of the TIW card vs. the dining plan), Zachary had a cheese pizza, my parents and I split the delicious prosciutto and melon pizza, and Tom had veal parm. They have this deal where you can get salad with pizza for a few extra dollars. The salad is really good! And you can feel like you're eating something healthy at Disney World!!!
I also got one of their fresca drinks (I think that's what they are called). So yummy. I was also trying to drink a lot of water in preparation for my race.
The food was great, as usual. Tom arrived before we ordered. Unfortunately my step-dad got a work phone call right before our food arrived and he disappeared. This was a recurring theme. It annoyed my mother and delayed our meal (which is always a problem with young children). Overall I give the meal 2 thumbs up! I would definitely return here again.
After lunch it was time for a few rides. We came to realization that we weren't going to make it back to our rooms before our 5:30pm dinner. Which meant that we going to wear our same grubby airplane clothes all day.
What can you do?
We went to TestTrack 1st. We had 3 FPs but we could get baby swap, too. Tom chose to take Nathaniel and Jessica and leave me with Zachary and my parents. I thought it was an odd choice but I kept my mouth shut! While they were riding I went to MouseGear to find an autograph book. Tom and I have been talking about buying a Mickey pizza cutter so I bought that. I had told the kids that we were only buying ONE autograph book for all to share instead of 3 of the same thing. They were actually fine with this. Lesson learned! I bought this bright green 2011 book. Annoyingly it makes noise when you open it. Oh well! The kids were happy with it.
After Tom rode it was my turn. The nice thing about baby swap is that up to 3 people can use it. So I took my parents on TestTrack (leaving Tom with 3 kids - his choice!). My parents went to Disney several times with my youngest brother when I was in college and med school but they had never been on TestTrack. They liked it but felt a little disappointed (another theme - negative comments about everything!).
We headed to Mission:Space. I don't love the Orange side so I sent Tom and Popsie with Nathaniel. Jessica was finally tall enough to ride but I wanted her to try the Green side first. A nice CM at Mission:Space directed us to the indoor playground in the Advanced Training Lab. I didn't realize it was there! (You go through the exit of Mission:Space and past the gift shop and there is a hidden indoor playground there). Zachary wasn't too sure at first because it was noisy and dark but he eventually liked it. Again we used Baby Swap and my mom and I took Jessica. I actually liked the Green Side better than the Orange (I had only done Orange before). Jessica was a little nervous but loved it. We were 1st in line to go into the pre-load area. The CM was an older guy from Maryland who was SO nice. We told him that Jessica was finally tall enough to ride. He pulled her out of line, re-measured her, and made a big announcement that "Jessica is tall enough to ride!" and got everyone to clap. It was very sweet and cute. Jessica, of course, ate it up. She's a true Diva!
My mom liked Mission:Space fine but said she was perfectly happy to stick to the green side. She didn't love it or anything. My step-dad and Tom both felt a little sick after the orange side. I guess that means that I'll be taking Nathaniel on the orange after this.
At this point it was pretty much time to head to dinner. I stopped at Guest Services to get Zachary a GAC and a stroller = wheelchair tag (which we only used once the whole trip - his walking and stair climbing are getting SO much better!!!). A nice CM at Guest Services gave Zachary a little balloon (the kind that you can turn into balloon animals although he didn't make an animal). It was very sweet but caused lots of fights on the monorail to dinner!
My mom really struggled with the monorail up ramps. Tom found the handicap elevator for her at Epcot (we never found another) which helped a lot at the end of the day. We took the monorail to TTC, switched to the Resort monorail, and arrived a Chef Mickey just in time for our ADR.
Amanda
Bummer that you had to deal with negative comments from your parents. That is one of the reasons I wouldn't want to take certain people to Disney with me. I don't like complaining in my happy place! (I do take my kids though)
, we will just rely on your review. 
