Surprise--Spring Break trip day three

Chim Chiminy

stale marshmallows sting when they hit you
Joined
Apr 10, 2003
Messages
1,861
Sunday April 4

After such an exhausting arrival day (next trip we book a hotel for the trip down), we slept in a bit.
I woke around 9:30, with the kids not too far behind. They were hungry, so I asked what they wanted to eat. Cereal? No. Oatmeal? No.
They both wanted pasta! What the heck, I fixed them both pasta and we ate out on the balcony in the very cool morning air. It had gotten down into the thirties, so it was quite chilly.
They went back in and made enough noise to rouse daddy from his slumber.
We decided to go check out the pool. Thankfully, Disney heats their pools to a nice 85 degrees (at least that is what we were told!).
Instead of heading up to the main pool, we thought we would check out the Turtle Pond pool. Turtle Pond was just a quick 5-10 minute walk away, had a snack bar, arcade, shuffleboard court, huge playground with sand, laundry and a hot tub. Nice area.

The pool wasn't very busy. Neth dove right in. Brenne followed quickly. DH got in to watch Brenne, while I took my time. It was still a bit cool, especially in the shade.
After ten minutes of watching them play, I decided to hop in as well.
The water was quite pleasant. Neth was busy doing flips and swimming underwater. DH was busy torturing Neth. So I stuck by Brenne, holding on to her when she wanted to venture further into the pool. The deepest point was 5 feet, right in the middle. Most of the pool was around 3 feet deep, so Brenne could easily touch. She was still apprehensive. She kept near the walls and stairs, bouncing around on her tippy toes.
There were two cute little girls playing near us, so Brenne asked if she could talk to them. Of course!
She tippy toed over and said hello. I noticed that Brenne was as big as they were, but they were 5 and 7. Brenne is just a tall girl I guess.
They played together for over an hour. First they were princesses, Ariel, Jasmine, and Cinderella. Then they played Doggie and Owner. Brenne and one of the girls were the dogs..........Finally they tossed around a ball for awhile.
The girls father got in the pool and he got to be the evil Jafar. They were all having a lot of fun, but as it neared closer to 1pm everyone was getting hungry.
Brenne's little friends had to go eat lunch, so Brenne told them "It was nice to meet you."
Soon after they left, we decided it was time to eat as well.
Back in the room, showered and dressed, we had wraps and pasta once more. The kids were really liking that pasta!
I packed our backpack with a few drinks, the cameras and Brenne's sweatshirt.
We were ready to head for Epcot.
Our wait for a bus was not very long, and soon we were on our way. We had the bus to ourselves.
We made it through security and the turnstile, and headed for Spaceship Earth.
Since it was already 3pm we thought there would be no line.
Wrong! The line was out the door and around the corner. I have never seen a line for Spaceship Earth like that. We decided to come back later.
Neth wanted to check out Mission Space, so that is where we headed.
We reached the pavilion, which wasn't too busy. Brenne wanted to ride, so we measured her and a Cast Member said "Yep! She's good to go. Have a good flight!"
I was very apprehensive about taking her on it. There are a ton of warnings about keeping your eyes open and looking straight ahead so that you won't get sick. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep an eye on her. What if she looked around? What if she got sick?
Nope, I told DH to take her to the Mission:Space play area while we checked out the ride.
Neth and I got in line with only a 15 minute wait. We were both nervous. I don't like spinning rides, and he wasn't sure what to expect.
There is lots of eye candy to keep your mind off all the warning signs. They have plenty of warning signs. Too many really. I think that may have contributed to the queasy feeling in my stomach and the tightness in my chest. I have never had a case of nerves before riding something like this before.
Neth was fascinated by all the space memorabilia.
We were assigned Ready Room 4, Row 10.
We had two Englishers with us (their term), the rest of their family was in row 9 including their younger sis in a wheelchair. So, Mission Space is accessible, as long as you can transfer from the wheelchair into a pod. When we boarded we saw two Cast Members assisting the young lady into her seat and helping her with her restraint. She was so excited.
In the Ready Room we watched a brief video hosted by Gary Sinise. He gave us all our instructions for guiding the craft, told us again of the warnings.
The doors opened and we stepped into the hallway, keeping to our number 10 markings.
Here Gary gave out assignments--Pilot, Navigator, and two others which I cannot remember. Neth wanted to be Pilot, so he switched places with me. He was very nervous.
The pod doors opened and I was first one in. Too late to back out now...........................
We sat down, stowed all our belongings in a pull-out bin, and pulled down our safety restraint. I put my hand on Neth's knee for a minute. The instrument panel moved closer toward us until it was literally inches away. Not good for the claustrophobic. Thankfully there is a cool breeze blowing directly onto your face. They supply space sickness bags for each person, which we all laughed about.
We were all chatty and a bit giggly as countdown began.
The pod began to rumble.....................then shake. The window in front of my face had blue sky on it, the sky quickly began to move. We were moving through the clouds and into space.
I could feel my face stretched back, my body pushed back into the seat. I could barely move my hands. Guess that is the G forces. I was giggling so hard I almost choked on my gum.....I truly felt as though I had just been launched into space.
When we exited, everyone was in the same stunned state of shock, talking in whispers, soft giggles. I can't wait to do this one again.
We caught up with DH and Brenne in the Mission:Space playground. Brenne was having lots of fun climbing through tunnels, going down slides.
There were a lot of people playing Space Race. Brenne and DH had played it while waiting.
I spied the e-postcard spot, so Neth and I ran over to send a few. Brenne joined us and we picked out a few silly ones and sent them to ourselves.
DH ran over and said he spotted the guy from The Commish, Michael Chiklis. He just knew it was him. There were a lot of people standing around speculating on the same thing. He was playing the Space Race game.
DH wanted me to go look and confirm it, but I said if, IF, it was him the guy deserves whatever privacy and respect we can afford him. He doesn't need people gawking at him while he is on vacation.
I glanced over, but all I got was a bald head and his profile. Then we left.
We checked on wait time for Test Track, which was 110 minutes. There is no way I would ever, ever wait that long for any ride. So we decided to hop over to the Wonders of Life pavilion.
Cranium Command only had a 7 minute wait, so we decided to see it.
DH and I thought it was funny, in a cute kid sort of way.
DH and I teased Neth that it would only be a couple more years........................
We played around inside the pavilion for a while, before heading over to Spaceship Earth.
Thankfully, it was a walk-on by now. We sat down and began our travel through time.
About five minutes into the ride, it stopped. Cast Members announced four times for people to please remain seated, then to please sit down. My guess is that some teens (or possibly even adults) were standing up or hopping from car to car.
We started moving again and enjoyed the relaxing ride. The kids really like it.
When we exited, we noticed that the Information Playground was gone. AT&T pulled out as a sponsor, and I guess pulled out all the neat technical gadgets as well. Hope they put something in the space.
Ice Station Cool was open, so we went in to sample some international sodas. Getting inside was hard, since they have snow falling on you. It was already cold outside, so we hurried through this part. Neth has declared his favorite to be the watermelon soda from China. Brenne's? She likes almost all of them. Kinley lemon from Israel, Mezzo Mix from Germany, and even Vegitabeta from Japan. Yes, she likes veggie soda!!!!! She had two cups of it! Me? I like the watermelon and the Kinley. DH? He is a bit of a spoil sport and doesn't really play along here.
The kids still wanted to do more, so we headed toward the Imagination Institute. We had never ridden Journey Into Your Imagination, so we decided to give it a shot. The kids loved it so much, we did it again.
Everyone was hungry by now, so we headed to World Showcase. DH and the kids decided on Mexican, so we ate at the lagoonside Cantina de San Angel. I snagged us a table while they went to grab dinner. The sun was setting and it was getting quite chilly, so I pulled Brenne's sweatshirt out. The rest of us didn't bring anything, so we just had to tough it out.
They returned with lots of food. Nachos for Neth, a burrito and chips for Brenne, and combo meals for DH and I. A lot of food for under $30. Everything was good.
While eating, two different marching bands marched around the World Showcase playing. We just happened to be at WDW during Magic Music Days.
If we were staying for Illuminations, we would have had the perfect spot, however we were not. Everyone wanted to ride Test Track.
On our way over, we decided to go into the Mexico pavilion and ride El Rio del Tiempo.
In the marketplace, DH asked Neth if he wanted a sarape, but Neth said no.
We walked onto the ride, which the kids enjoyed. I call it the Small World of Mexico. Brenne loves the dancing dolls and the carrousel in the ride. Neth likes the fireworks at the end.
Finally, we head out toward Test Track. Everyone had headed toward the lagoon for the fireworks, so Test Track had a very short wait. 15 minutes.
Brenne didn't like the noise in the queue line, so she kept her ears covered. DH found a hidden Mickey. (Fun for everyone, even a grump like DH!)
The line moved very fast and soon we were getting into our car. I buckled up Brenne tight. She was in the middle seat, which only has a lap belt, no shoulder harness.
Neth was in the drivers seat, so throughout the whole ride Brenne giggled and would say what a bad driver Bubby was.
What a fun ride! We had to do it again, so we ran right back to the entrance. This time around, Brenne was in the driver's seat. So I got to tell her what a bad driver she was.
We even got to see the fireworks as our car exited the building to do the high speed loop.
Add Test Track to our family favorites list! Loved it.
With Illuminations over, everyone was exiting. So we decided to let the kids play on the fiber optic sidewalk, without the music. They didn't have the music playing for some reason. Also no music for the fountain. Disappointing...... They danced around on the lights, running and giggling. Once most of the crowd had cleared out, we headed for the bus stop, tired and ready for bed.
 
Thanks for sharing your trip. You had a great time.

I love Test Track too.:sunny:
 
I am to chicken to try Mission space in 7 days....but test track is a goooooooo.....I loved it even when we broke down last year on the inner track on our sides........what fun.......thanks so much for sharing your day with us......
 
I am enjoying your trip report. Thanks.

I am worried about trying Mission Space. I'm afraid it will make me sick. I am glad you enjoyed it.
 















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