8caliace
United States Air Force
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2000
- Messages
- 324
This was our 4th trip to WDW and by far the most stressful in planning, but the most rewarding and relaxing trip yet.
The Crew:
Ace(me): 30, Active duty Air Force currently stationed in TX
Nancy: DW, 29. Civil service job on the base
Nick: 6, DS. First grader on fall break
Cameron: 8 months, DD. Spoiled lil girl.
JoAnn: 57, my mom. Lives in Vegas, always ready to spoil the grandchildren
Rob: 23, my brother. Works for an airline, and training as EMT/firefighter in Las Vegas
Ali: 27, brother's girlfriend. Also works for airline.
Tom: 27, Active duty Air Force stationed in California
Plans for Day 6 were to spend the day at EPCOT. We had a PS for lunch at Le Cellier and were anticipating our first go at Mission Space. Everyone stumbled out of bed and after morning rituals, we loaded into the van for the drive over to EPCOT. We arrived not too long after opening, then Tom and I headed off to grab FP's for everyone for Mission Space. The others jumped on Spaceship Earth while we were gone so we had problems locating each other, but we managed to find the stroller and just waited for them to come off. We worked our way up into Innoventions and spent awhile sending picture e-mails to friends and family who weren't with us. This included one for Tom's wife Diana, who was deployed to Saudi Arabia at the time of the trip. After playing around with the various games and such, it was time to report to Mission Space. Nancy sat out with Cameron, while the 6 of us headed in. What a great queue area and pre-show. We got split into 2 teams. Mom, Rob, and Ali went on one team. Nick, Tom, and I on the other. I was the commander, Nick was excited to be the pilot, and Tom was the engineer. Now I had read all the reports and such about the ride, but they do not do justice. Very incredible experience here. The only problem I had was that I kept turning my head to check on Nick. I felt a bit disoriented after the ride, but it was fantastic. We met up with Nancy, and I accompanied her for another go-round. She really liked it as well, but 2 trips in a row really kind of got my head and stomach spinning a bit. But without a doubt, a great ride experience regardless. Nick of course loved the gift shop and decided that he would need to buy the ship before we left WDW. We stopped at Test Track for FP's for later, then wandered on our way over to Le Cellier. We checked in and were immediately seated. This was another restaurant we had been meaning to try specifically this trip and we were not disappointed at all. Some of the best CM's on the trip were here. We got seated at the big table right in front where you enter the dining room. Cameron was put in a high chair and the end of the table closest to the entrance. Now, our whole routine thus far had Cameron munching on the bg warm pretzels each day. So of course she was more than thrilled with the pretzel bread. She got a hold of hers and her happy act clicked on immediately. Everyone who walked in the restaurant got a wave and greeting from her. The manager stopped by several times to talk with her about working there full time as a greeter. All the bread was great, especially the pretzel bread we had heard so much about. I think we went through several servings, and they even wrapped some up for Cameron to get her through the rest of the day. Lunch meals were great and we were way too stuffed for dessert...definitely will be back here.
Waddled out of Canada, back over to Test Track for our FP time. This time I stayed off while everyone else went on. Cameron and I walked around looking at the cars, then Nick, Rob, Tom, and I went for another spin using my FP and the kid swap. While in the pre-show, Tom and Rob leaned against the doors and they opened up and everyone started to move towards them. We all put up our hands and told everyone to stop because we were just testing the emergency exit system. We got some strange looks, but it was funny. Nick had a blast riding his favorite ride twice in a row. Headed off into the gift shop where Tom went crazy looking at the NASCAR stuff. I am one of those people who don't understand NASCAR, and I always make fun of Tom. He is a big Earnhardt Jr fan. I always thought that NASCAR fans hated Jeff Gordon a lot, so while he was putting on Earnhardt stuff, I grabbed a Gordon team shirt and put it on, thinking it would make him mad. He grabbed me and laughed cuz he thought he would never see me wearing anything having to do with NASCAR. Multiple pics were snapped as evidence to be used against me later. We worked our way over to Living Seas and spent enough time there to wander around and let Nick and Cameron push their noses against the glass. Then proceeded to start our walk of the world. Tradition for us entails beginning in Mexico with a big Margarita, which we stopped and slurped down as we walked. Then began another episode of the big men acting like little boys. Rob, Tom, and I made a bet to see who could get the most pics taken with female CM's in the different countries. So when the women folk were not watching, we would be sneaking around and posing for pics with all these CM's. Rob and I jumped into the early lead with a pic each in Mexico. We jumped on the boat ride, and headed out onto the next stop. We stopped in the bakery in Norway, where we got some snacks and a group pic with the cashier. Line for Maelstrom was long so we kept on moving. I think China was next, where we found two CM's to get another group pic with. Spent some time wandering through the shopping area before continuing. About this time is when the ladies started picking up on our game. They started following us around when we got to Germany. Ali was giving Rob the evil eye, so only Tom and I got points here. In Italy, Tom and I again got pics in the shops, with Rob cowering next to Ali. It seemed like there were no female CM's in America, so only Tom scored. By this time, the game had lost its fun so it kinda fell away. We continued walking around the world making stops here and there, but nothing too exciting. We made it back over to Canada in time to see Off Kilter for the first time, and they were great. Everyone was running on empty by now, so we wandered out and headed back to CSR for a recharge.
After resting and relaxing for a bit, we were itching to get out and do something, so we decided on mini-golf Skins Game part 2. We decided on Fantasia Gardens. Rob, Tom, and I decided on the Fairways course, while the wimps decided to go the easy way. I can truly say that was one monster of a mini golf course. We all looked pathetic, except for a miracle shot here and there. Tom came out as the winner this time, but we all left hanging our heads in shame after our performances. But it was all fun. Headed back to CSR for a pleasant nights sleep and ready for action on Day 7...
The Crew:
Ace(me): 30, Active duty Air Force currently stationed in TX
Nancy: DW, 29. Civil service job on the base
Nick: 6, DS. First grader on fall break
Cameron: 8 months, DD. Spoiled lil girl.
JoAnn: 57, my mom. Lives in Vegas, always ready to spoil the grandchildren
Rob: 23, my brother. Works for an airline, and training as EMT/firefighter in Las Vegas
Ali: 27, brother's girlfriend. Also works for airline.
Tom: 27, Active duty Air Force stationed in California
Plans for Day 6 were to spend the day at EPCOT. We had a PS for lunch at Le Cellier and were anticipating our first go at Mission Space. Everyone stumbled out of bed and after morning rituals, we loaded into the van for the drive over to EPCOT. We arrived not too long after opening, then Tom and I headed off to grab FP's for everyone for Mission Space. The others jumped on Spaceship Earth while we were gone so we had problems locating each other, but we managed to find the stroller and just waited for them to come off. We worked our way up into Innoventions and spent awhile sending picture e-mails to friends and family who weren't with us. This included one for Tom's wife Diana, who was deployed to Saudi Arabia at the time of the trip. After playing around with the various games and such, it was time to report to Mission Space. Nancy sat out with Cameron, while the 6 of us headed in. What a great queue area and pre-show. We got split into 2 teams. Mom, Rob, and Ali went on one team. Nick, Tom, and I on the other. I was the commander, Nick was excited to be the pilot, and Tom was the engineer. Now I had read all the reports and such about the ride, but they do not do justice. Very incredible experience here. The only problem I had was that I kept turning my head to check on Nick. I felt a bit disoriented after the ride, but it was fantastic. We met up with Nancy, and I accompanied her for another go-round. She really liked it as well, but 2 trips in a row really kind of got my head and stomach spinning a bit. But without a doubt, a great ride experience regardless. Nick of course loved the gift shop and decided that he would need to buy the ship before we left WDW. We stopped at Test Track for FP's for later, then wandered on our way over to Le Cellier. We checked in and were immediately seated. This was another restaurant we had been meaning to try specifically this trip and we were not disappointed at all. Some of the best CM's on the trip were here. We got seated at the big table right in front where you enter the dining room. Cameron was put in a high chair and the end of the table closest to the entrance. Now, our whole routine thus far had Cameron munching on the bg warm pretzels each day. So of course she was more than thrilled with the pretzel bread. She got a hold of hers and her happy act clicked on immediately. Everyone who walked in the restaurant got a wave and greeting from her. The manager stopped by several times to talk with her about working there full time as a greeter. All the bread was great, especially the pretzel bread we had heard so much about. I think we went through several servings, and they even wrapped some up for Cameron to get her through the rest of the day. Lunch meals were great and we were way too stuffed for dessert...definitely will be back here.
Waddled out of Canada, back over to Test Track for our FP time. This time I stayed off while everyone else went on. Cameron and I walked around looking at the cars, then Nick, Rob, Tom, and I went for another spin using my FP and the kid swap. While in the pre-show, Tom and Rob leaned against the doors and they opened up and everyone started to move towards them. We all put up our hands and told everyone to stop because we were just testing the emergency exit system. We got some strange looks, but it was funny. Nick had a blast riding his favorite ride twice in a row. Headed off into the gift shop where Tom went crazy looking at the NASCAR stuff. I am one of those people who don't understand NASCAR, and I always make fun of Tom. He is a big Earnhardt Jr fan. I always thought that NASCAR fans hated Jeff Gordon a lot, so while he was putting on Earnhardt stuff, I grabbed a Gordon team shirt and put it on, thinking it would make him mad. He grabbed me and laughed cuz he thought he would never see me wearing anything having to do with NASCAR. Multiple pics were snapped as evidence to be used against me later. We worked our way over to Living Seas and spent enough time there to wander around and let Nick and Cameron push their noses against the glass. Then proceeded to start our walk of the world. Tradition for us entails beginning in Mexico with a big Margarita, which we stopped and slurped down as we walked. Then began another episode of the big men acting like little boys. Rob, Tom, and I made a bet to see who could get the most pics taken with female CM's in the different countries. So when the women folk were not watching, we would be sneaking around and posing for pics with all these CM's. Rob and I jumped into the early lead with a pic each in Mexico. We jumped on the boat ride, and headed out onto the next stop. We stopped in the bakery in Norway, where we got some snacks and a group pic with the cashier. Line for Maelstrom was long so we kept on moving. I think China was next, where we found two CM's to get another group pic with. Spent some time wandering through the shopping area before continuing. About this time is when the ladies started picking up on our game. They started following us around when we got to Germany. Ali was giving Rob the evil eye, so only Tom and I got points here. In Italy, Tom and I again got pics in the shops, with Rob cowering next to Ali. It seemed like there were no female CM's in America, so only Tom scored. By this time, the game had lost its fun so it kinda fell away. We continued walking around the world making stops here and there, but nothing too exciting. We made it back over to Canada in time to see Off Kilter for the first time, and they were great. Everyone was running on empty by now, so we wandered out and headed back to CSR for a recharge.
After resting and relaxing for a bit, we were itching to get out and do something, so we decided on mini-golf Skins Game part 2. We decided on Fantasia Gardens. Rob, Tom, and I decided on the Fairways course, while the wimps decided to go the easy way. I can truly say that was one monster of a mini golf course. We all looked pathetic, except for a miracle shot here and there. Tom came out as the winner this time, but we all left hanging our heads in shame after our performances. But it was all fun. Headed back to CSR for a pleasant nights sleep and ready for action on Day 7...
