Cast: Beth (me: 40, planner, fretter, trip #9)
Dh: Mark (39, a great big wonderful kid, always up for a lark,trip #5)
DS: N. (trip #5, pre teen, and determined to do every ride he was too afraid of on his last trip)
DD: A. (trip #4, 7yo, so totally psyched)
I wake around 8am to a cup of good coffee that M. brought back from the concierge lounge. Concierge is so nice, it was just a quick walk down the hall and up a short flight of stairs to the lounge. The breakfast buffet is excellent, and really eliminated the need for us to eat anywhere else in the mornings. Hot coffee, juices, milks, muffins, breads, bagels, danish & pastries, and the most delicious oatmeal (with brown sugar on the side) plus fresh fruit, and more are available till about 10:30. Breakfast in bed...this is true luxury.
The skies were dark gray, and the ground was wet. By the time we'd showered and dressed, it was raining steadily. M. was feeling optimistic (and not just a little like: "we paid for those park tickets, by gosh we're going to use them!"). He wanted to go to Epcot to do the FutureWorld section, which we'd pretty much been neglecting so far. Also, I've been wanting lunch in Mexico at the counter service, so this was our plan. We grab the monorail at the TTC, and share our car with a nice family from South Carolina. A set of parents and 3 teenagers. We talked and joked alot on the ride over, as the parents were hoping to do the beers around the world tour, and let the teens lead them back home when they'd finished...lol. What a nice family, so friendly. Now the rain is really coming down, fast, hard, and sideways because of the wind. "Oh, the park will be empty," M. beams, "we'll have no waits for anything!" The kids are looking outside and wondering at what point does a rain storm technically become a monsoon? while Dad goes on excitedly about what a great day this will be. Out of the monorail, and head to the park, and I swear, these are the longest lines we've seen yet! The place is packed! Everyone at WDW had the same optimistic view as my hubby. We've got on our Disney ponchos, and it doesn't matter, the wind & rain are so heavy that our hair is soaked, M. can't see out of his glasses, and my poor little wet children have to walk leaning forward into the wind with their faces down so they can see where they're going. But no one argues with Dad, who remains so upbeat and happy that I could have wrapped my Disney poncho around his neck and...I digress.
As we walk towards Innoventions, the dear man turns to look at his bedraggled family, and says, "we don't have to do this. There's no need to push...do you want to go to the arcade at Contemporary instead?" I believe the kids were back to the monorail station before I even knew we'd changed plans. It was amazingly wet, though, so it was a good idea to go to the Contemporary. A. hadn't played the games there yet (though her big bro had won her a little stuffed zebra on his last visit) so she was pumped up that you actually got to "win" a prize here. We figured $20.00 in the arcade would keep the kids busy for a few hours, so we headed over. N. repeatedly kicked my butt at air hockeyand A. played every game that would win tickets, and ended up with enough to pick out a sister zebra to go with the one her brother gave her, a ring, and a bouncy ball, and some squeezy tube thing. And all for the low, low price of only $20.00!
Soon the skies cleared a little, to a lighter shade of gray, and we decided to go to Mexico (in Epcot) for lunch. Margaritas!! The counter service here is great, and we snag a beautiful umbrella'd table overlooking the lagoon. We had just gotten 2 grande margaritas and some lunch plates, & sodas when the storm started up again. This time, with even greater gusto. We were in a good place, the umbrella kept us dry, and the kids put their feet under them because the water really crept up fast. 2 more Margaritas, please, and churros for the kids and we happily waited out the storm. Very happily. Then we wandered around the countries, including Morocco! We've never spent much time there before, but it really struck us this trip. The architecture was lovely. As we're browsing in one shop, I noticed Princess Jasmine standing alone in a courtyard. A. & I bolted out, and how happy A. was to have some alone time with her very favorite princess. This Jasmine was wonderful, too, and talked about shopping with Cinderella (for jewels, of course), and about her pet Tiger, and other princess friends. It was a Disney moment, and A. was walking on air. After we left Jasmine we looked for that Jasmine doll with the green outfit, but no traditional Barbie one was available. A. did buy a little stuffed Jasmine doll with a plastic head that is very nice, too; and from this moment on, this little Jasmine doll went everywhere with us!
On to MGM where we did Star Tours (seemed really short this time), the Backlot Tour (got soaked...a theme for the day), Drew Cary's Sounds Dangerous (ok), then the boat ride back to Epcot so we can monorail home (stopping in France for some wine). The boat capts. between Epcot & the hotels/MGM were awesome. We had one Capt. (Josh) who was very funny...at the Boardwalk stop he asked us all to play a joke on someone with him. He had a little beeping thing, that he'd pretend was a metal detector going off when one of the passengers boarded. Everyone went along with it, and he picked a good natured woman about 40 to mess with. It was a riot, at first she really thought it was a metal detector, none of the boarding passengers gave it a 2nd thought, and she emptied her pockets, etc. Everyone was laughing, and the lady was a great sport about it.
It was late, and we were wet & tired when we got back, but we were back in time to watch the boat parade & fireworks from our own patio. A relaxing end to a busy day.
Dh: Mark (39, a great big wonderful kid, always up for a lark,trip #5)
DS: N. (trip #5, pre teen, and determined to do every ride he was too afraid of on his last trip)
DD: A. (trip #4, 7yo, so totally psyched)
I wake around 8am to a cup of good coffee that M. brought back from the concierge lounge. Concierge is so nice, it was just a quick walk down the hall and up a short flight of stairs to the lounge. The breakfast buffet is excellent, and really eliminated the need for us to eat anywhere else in the mornings. Hot coffee, juices, milks, muffins, breads, bagels, danish & pastries, and the most delicious oatmeal (with brown sugar on the side) plus fresh fruit, and more are available till about 10:30. Breakfast in bed...this is true luxury.
The skies were dark gray, and the ground was wet. By the time we'd showered and dressed, it was raining steadily. M. was feeling optimistic (and not just a little like: "we paid for those park tickets, by gosh we're going to use them!"). He wanted to go to Epcot to do the FutureWorld section, which we'd pretty much been neglecting so far. Also, I've been wanting lunch in Mexico at the counter service, so this was our plan. We grab the monorail at the TTC, and share our car with a nice family from South Carolina. A set of parents and 3 teenagers. We talked and joked alot on the ride over, as the parents were hoping to do the beers around the world tour, and let the teens lead them back home when they'd finished...lol. What a nice family, so friendly. Now the rain is really coming down, fast, hard, and sideways because of the wind. "Oh, the park will be empty," M. beams, "we'll have no waits for anything!" The kids are looking outside and wondering at what point does a rain storm technically become a monsoon? while Dad goes on excitedly about what a great day this will be. Out of the monorail, and head to the park, and I swear, these are the longest lines we've seen yet! The place is packed! Everyone at WDW had the same optimistic view as my hubby. We've got on our Disney ponchos, and it doesn't matter, the wind & rain are so heavy that our hair is soaked, M. can't see out of his glasses, and my poor little wet children have to walk leaning forward into the wind with their faces down so they can see where they're going. But no one argues with Dad, who remains so upbeat and happy that I could have wrapped my Disney poncho around his neck and...I digress.
As we walk towards Innoventions, the dear man turns to look at his bedraggled family, and says, "we don't have to do this. There's no need to push...do you want to go to the arcade at Contemporary instead?" I believe the kids were back to the monorail station before I even knew we'd changed plans. It was amazingly wet, though, so it was a good idea to go to the Contemporary. A. hadn't played the games there yet (though her big bro had won her a little stuffed zebra on his last visit) so she was pumped up that you actually got to "win" a prize here. We figured $20.00 in the arcade would keep the kids busy for a few hours, so we headed over. N. repeatedly kicked my butt at air hockeyand A. played every game that would win tickets, and ended up with enough to pick out a sister zebra to go with the one her brother gave her, a ring, and a bouncy ball, and some squeezy tube thing. And all for the low, low price of only $20.00!
Soon the skies cleared a little, to a lighter shade of gray, and we decided to go to Mexico (in Epcot) for lunch. Margaritas!! The counter service here is great, and we snag a beautiful umbrella'd table overlooking the lagoon. We had just gotten 2 grande margaritas and some lunch plates, & sodas when the storm started up again. This time, with even greater gusto. We were in a good place, the umbrella kept us dry, and the kids put their feet under them because the water really crept up fast. 2 more Margaritas, please, and churros for the kids and we happily waited out the storm. Very happily. Then we wandered around the countries, including Morocco! We've never spent much time there before, but it really struck us this trip. The architecture was lovely. As we're browsing in one shop, I noticed Princess Jasmine standing alone in a courtyard. A. & I bolted out, and how happy A. was to have some alone time with her very favorite princess. This Jasmine was wonderful, too, and talked about shopping with Cinderella (for jewels, of course), and about her pet Tiger, and other princess friends. It was a Disney moment, and A. was walking on air. After we left Jasmine we looked for that Jasmine doll with the green outfit, but no traditional Barbie one was available. A. did buy a little stuffed Jasmine doll with a plastic head that is very nice, too; and from this moment on, this little Jasmine doll went everywhere with us!
On to MGM where we did Star Tours (seemed really short this time), the Backlot Tour (got soaked...a theme for the day), Drew Cary's Sounds Dangerous (ok), then the boat ride back to Epcot so we can monorail home (stopping in France for some wine). The boat capts. between Epcot & the hotels/MGM were awesome. We had one Capt. (Josh) who was very funny...at the Boardwalk stop he asked us all to play a joke on someone with him. He had a little beeping thing, that he'd pretend was a metal detector going off when one of the passengers boarded. Everyone went along with it, and he picked a good natured woman about 40 to mess with. It was a riot, at first she really thought it was a metal detector, none of the boarding passengers gave it a 2nd thought, and she emptied her pockets, etc. Everyone was laughing, and the lady was a great sport about it.
It was late, and we were wet & tired when we got back, but we were back in time to watch the boat parade & fireworks from our own patio. A relaxing end to a busy day.
Wish that rain would go away for you.
