BONZO
<font color=660066>Has been known to go off topic!
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2001
- Messages
- 2,100
The Hopping Mad Easter Tour - 2004
Shaun - 40 something If its high fat, high sugar Ill eat it
Alison - 30 something 'If its not Atkins I wont eat it
Alexandra - 10 Can we play mini-golf? Can we? Can we? Can we? Can we?
Laura - 8 'If Im tall enough Ill ride it'
Saturday 3rd April 2004
Im still waking up at the crack of dawn long before the alarm goes off at 7:40, maybe because its our first Epcot day today and Im really excited.
Quick wash and dress and off to Golden Corral for breakfast (successfully this time - Lauras not sick in the car park outside - LOL) but its absolutely heaving with people! I did notice a couple of coaches near the car park but thought nothing of it. The choice of food here is massive and I defy anyone not to find anything here to their liking. Laura still doesnt quite feel 100% so she just eats toast and drinks water at least this time she manages to keep everything down though. Total bill is about $24 (with a discount coupon).
Drove to Epcot and parked up by 9:10. Shot straight through and grabbed FPs for Test track but as the queue time was posted at 20 mins we all decided to go and ride it now anyway. What a difference a year makes as last August we had to (OK, we didnt HAVE to, but we wanted to) leave the girls outside with a pot of Pringles and a bottle of water to allow us to ride this together.
Over to Energy only to find that the ride had broken down. Oh well, over to The Wonders of Life closed as its marked as a "seasonal" attraction. (How seasonal do they want to be!! Its Easter guys - come on! Busy season!) Ok then, how about Imagination? its empty!
Imagination was ok but just didnt have that "Disney" factor, Im not sure what it was but it appeared to lack a certain something. As we came out into the Kodak sponsored area Laura was asked to assist in the demonstration of how to take and manage digital photographs. Bless her - she looked so sweet, and she interacted really well with the female scientist you know, theres always a certain "something" about women in glasses
Ok back to the report Over to the Living Seas where there is great interest - mainly thanks to the success of Finding Nemo. There are a couple of kids colouring stations set up all based on Finding Nemo. Somehow the girls dont think that we really have travelled below sea level to Sea Base Alpha on the Hydrolators whats wrong with them???
We came out onto dry land and used our FPs on Test Track for a second time boy, the standby queues for this are horrendous! We all love Test Track - the girls favourite ride in Epcot. Once thats done we head over to Energy, but it is still broken. Not to worry - well be back to Epcot! However, World Showcase has opened up and we start in Mexico and work anti-clockwise.
The girls like it here now that the Kidcot funstops have been made a permanent feature instead of the makeshift table and chairs of a couple of years back. The main difference this year was that there appeared to be many adults pushing and shoving to do Kidcot for themselves.
Now, heres a tip to cut and paste for the kids how to say hello etc
Mexico...Hola (OH-lah)
Norway...god dag (goo-DAHG)
China...Ni hao (nee HOW)
Germany...gutten Tag (GOOT-en tahkh) Good Day
Italy...buon giornio (boo-on JOR-no) Good Day
or ciao (chow) hello or good bye
Japan...ohayo gozaimasu (oh-hi-yoh-goh goh-zy-ee-mahs) Good Morning
Morocco... Salam alekoum (sah-LAHM wah-LAY-koom)
France...Bonjour (bohn-ZHOOR)
Konnichiwa (kohn-nee-chee-wah) "Good Afternoon!"
Konbanwa (kohn-bahn-wah) "Good Evening!"
Oyasuminasai (oh-yah-soo-mee-nah-sah-ee) "Good night!"
Now the important stuff how to order beer!
For Mexico-
Dos equis por favor. Gracious.
In Norway-
Kunn jeg har ringnes behager. Mange takk.
(Ah, ja den stora er stor. Ja Viking storrelse. Takk slik mye. )
In China -
Tsingtao, qing. Xiexie (Sounds more like Szhi SZhi)
In Germany-
Gutten Tag! Kann ich becks bitte haben? Ach, und Schuff von jeaggermiester. Danke.
In Italy-
Perdonarme, potere ho un altro Peroni, per favore. Grazi!
Japan-
Sumi-masen, kirin moto kudasai. Domo.
Morroco-
Jiegeblye casablanca, min fadilak - shukran.
In France-
La Belle, si vous plait.
In the UK-
Another Guinness guvnor
In Canada-
More Moosehead, Eh?
Laura said hello to the CM in each country in their own language and the CMs were all really chuffed - and Laura got loads of attention because of it! (Although, when she said hello in Norwegian I think the Cm must have misunderstood because she said Bless you! - LOL)
En route around the lagoon we stopped in Morocco for a snack : -
Kids: Pizza and fries
Us: Super sized coke as it was really hot today. About $12 total
The Doner kebabs looked nice though!
Carried on around the rest of the lands and arrived at Canada where, surprise, surprise, the Beaver Tail cart wasnt open! One day, one day well get to try one of these. (never managed to yet!)
On leaving World Showcase we stopped just as the Character bus stopped - so the girls got loads of autographs and pictures! Im so glad they still enjoy doing this - but I guess it wont be too long before Alexandra feels too old for it!)
Carried on to Spaceship Earth (we do this ride far too many times every trip!) and decided to call it a day for now as it was about 3pm and the girls wanted a swim.
On the way out we made a snap decision and stopped off at the Leave a Legacy stand to see how much it would cost. Wed never asked before but guessed it would be very expensive. Well, we were in for a pleasant surprise! It was just $25 per plaque - although we couldnt fit all 4 of us on one - but even better - as Annual Passholders we were entitled to buy one get one free (wow!), so for $25 for 2 plaques we decided that it was worth a go. It took a while to fill in all the forms and get our photos done - and itll be about 3 months before the pictures are up on the plinth - but hey! Well just have to go back to see the pics!
We saw another family being given special pins while we were there, so we asked if we should have them also - but the CM explained that we werent entitled to them as we hadnt paid cash (we charged the cost back to the room). A little odd we thought - but not to worry. (Weve since found out that we were entitled to them! Got to try and sort this out by email now!)
Back to the hotel for an afternoon swim in the quiet pool, or at least it was before we arrived! LOL
Alison went off to El Centro to make a couple of phone calls about Mondays plans (all will be revealed in the trip report - youll be really impressed at the depths we parents can stoop to!) and to send off postcards and also to ask at Lost and Found about my watch that I mustve mislaid at TL. (Never did find it!)
We all showered and then walked over to the Pepper Market for dinner. This is a food court with a difference. You are seated by a waitress, who also gets your drinks and then hands everyone in the party a card. Each person then goes to whichever food station they would like to (pizza, grill, Chinese etc etc) and gets their card stamped. When youve finished eating you leave the food court, paying a cashier on exit. You pay an extra 10% for this facility but we didnt mind - the food was good and the waitress was lovely
Laura: Kids Pizza meal
Alexandra: Chicken strips, crisps and cookie
Alison: Rotisserie chicken, vegetables and chips
Me: Chinese Kung Po Chicken, rice and egg role
Girls had drinks from refillable mugs, I had Diet coke and Alison water.
Total cost $39 including the 10% service
As it wasnt late we drove out to Wal-Mart to get some supplies; Beer, crisps, nuts, water etc (you get the picture!) and back home to the room and in bed by 9:30
Weather today very pleasant warm, dry but a little breezy.
Plan for tomorrow: - MGM - and Shauns highlight of the trip!
Shaun - 40 something If its high fat, high sugar Ill eat it
Alison - 30 something 'If its not Atkins I wont eat it
Alexandra - 10 Can we play mini-golf? Can we? Can we? Can we? Can we?
Laura - 8 'If Im tall enough Ill ride it'
Saturday 3rd April 2004
Im still waking up at the crack of dawn long before the alarm goes off at 7:40, maybe because its our first Epcot day today and Im really excited.
Quick wash and dress and off to Golden Corral for breakfast (successfully this time - Lauras not sick in the car park outside - LOL) but its absolutely heaving with people! I did notice a couple of coaches near the car park but thought nothing of it. The choice of food here is massive and I defy anyone not to find anything here to their liking. Laura still doesnt quite feel 100% so she just eats toast and drinks water at least this time she manages to keep everything down though. Total bill is about $24 (with a discount coupon).
Drove to Epcot and parked up by 9:10. Shot straight through and grabbed FPs for Test track but as the queue time was posted at 20 mins we all decided to go and ride it now anyway. What a difference a year makes as last August we had to (OK, we didnt HAVE to, but we wanted to) leave the girls outside with a pot of Pringles and a bottle of water to allow us to ride this together.
Over to Energy only to find that the ride had broken down. Oh well, over to The Wonders of Life closed as its marked as a "seasonal" attraction. (How seasonal do they want to be!! Its Easter guys - come on! Busy season!) Ok then, how about Imagination? its empty!
Imagination was ok but just didnt have that "Disney" factor, Im not sure what it was but it appeared to lack a certain something. As we came out into the Kodak sponsored area Laura was asked to assist in the demonstration of how to take and manage digital photographs. Bless her - she looked so sweet, and she interacted really well with the female scientist you know, theres always a certain "something" about women in glasses
Ok back to the report Over to the Living Seas where there is great interest - mainly thanks to the success of Finding Nemo. There are a couple of kids colouring stations set up all based on Finding Nemo. Somehow the girls dont think that we really have travelled below sea level to Sea Base Alpha on the Hydrolators whats wrong with them???
We came out onto dry land and used our FPs on Test Track for a second time boy, the standby queues for this are horrendous! We all love Test Track - the girls favourite ride in Epcot. Once thats done we head over to Energy, but it is still broken. Not to worry - well be back to Epcot! However, World Showcase has opened up and we start in Mexico and work anti-clockwise.
The girls like it here now that the Kidcot funstops have been made a permanent feature instead of the makeshift table and chairs of a couple of years back. The main difference this year was that there appeared to be many adults pushing and shoving to do Kidcot for themselves.
Now, heres a tip to cut and paste for the kids how to say hello etc
Mexico...Hola (OH-lah)
Norway...god dag (goo-DAHG)
China...Ni hao (nee HOW)
Germany...gutten Tag (GOOT-en tahkh) Good Day
Italy...buon giornio (boo-on JOR-no) Good Day
or ciao (chow) hello or good bye
Japan...ohayo gozaimasu (oh-hi-yoh-goh goh-zy-ee-mahs) Good Morning
Morocco... Salam alekoum (sah-LAHM wah-LAY-koom)
France...Bonjour (bohn-ZHOOR)
Konnichiwa (kohn-nee-chee-wah) "Good Afternoon!"
Konbanwa (kohn-bahn-wah) "Good Evening!"
Oyasuminasai (oh-yah-soo-mee-nah-sah-ee) "Good night!"
Now the important stuff how to order beer!
For Mexico-
Dos equis por favor. Gracious.
In Norway-
Kunn jeg har ringnes behager. Mange takk.
(Ah, ja den stora er stor. Ja Viking storrelse. Takk slik mye. )
In China -
Tsingtao, qing. Xiexie (Sounds more like Szhi SZhi)
In Germany-
Gutten Tag! Kann ich becks bitte haben? Ach, und Schuff von jeaggermiester. Danke.
In Italy-
Perdonarme, potere ho un altro Peroni, per favore. Grazi!
Japan-
Sumi-masen, kirin moto kudasai. Domo.
Morroco-
Jiegeblye casablanca, min fadilak - shukran.
In France-
La Belle, si vous plait.
In the UK-
Another Guinness guvnor
In Canada-
More Moosehead, Eh?
Laura said hello to the CM in each country in their own language and the CMs were all really chuffed - and Laura got loads of attention because of it! (Although, when she said hello in Norwegian I think the Cm must have misunderstood because she said Bless you! - LOL)
En route around the lagoon we stopped in Morocco for a snack : -
Kids: Pizza and fries
Us: Super sized coke as it was really hot today. About $12 total
The Doner kebabs looked nice though!
Carried on around the rest of the lands and arrived at Canada where, surprise, surprise, the Beaver Tail cart wasnt open! One day, one day well get to try one of these. (never managed to yet!)
On leaving World Showcase we stopped just as the Character bus stopped - so the girls got loads of autographs and pictures! Im so glad they still enjoy doing this - but I guess it wont be too long before Alexandra feels too old for it!)
Carried on to Spaceship Earth (we do this ride far too many times every trip!) and decided to call it a day for now as it was about 3pm and the girls wanted a swim.
On the way out we made a snap decision and stopped off at the Leave a Legacy stand to see how much it would cost. Wed never asked before but guessed it would be very expensive. Well, we were in for a pleasant surprise! It was just $25 per plaque - although we couldnt fit all 4 of us on one - but even better - as Annual Passholders we were entitled to buy one get one free (wow!), so for $25 for 2 plaques we decided that it was worth a go. It took a while to fill in all the forms and get our photos done - and itll be about 3 months before the pictures are up on the plinth - but hey! Well just have to go back to see the pics!
We saw another family being given special pins while we were there, so we asked if we should have them also - but the CM explained that we werent entitled to them as we hadnt paid cash (we charged the cost back to the room). A little odd we thought - but not to worry. (Weve since found out that we were entitled to them! Got to try and sort this out by email now!)
Back to the hotel for an afternoon swim in the quiet pool, or at least it was before we arrived! LOL
Alison went off to El Centro to make a couple of phone calls about Mondays plans (all will be revealed in the trip report - youll be really impressed at the depths we parents can stoop to!) and to send off postcards and also to ask at Lost and Found about my watch that I mustve mislaid at TL. (Never did find it!)
We all showered and then walked over to the Pepper Market for dinner. This is a food court with a difference. You are seated by a waitress, who also gets your drinks and then hands everyone in the party a card. Each person then goes to whichever food station they would like to (pizza, grill, Chinese etc etc) and gets their card stamped. When youve finished eating you leave the food court, paying a cashier on exit. You pay an extra 10% for this facility but we didnt mind - the food was good and the waitress was lovely
Laura: Kids Pizza meal
Alexandra: Chicken strips, crisps and cookie
Alison: Rotisserie chicken, vegetables and chips
Me: Chinese Kung Po Chicken, rice and egg role
Girls had drinks from refillable mugs, I had Diet coke and Alison water.
Total cost $39 including the 10% service
As it wasnt late we drove out to Wal-Mart to get some supplies; Beer, crisps, nuts, water etc (you get the picture!) and back home to the room and in bed by 9:30
Weather today very pleasant warm, dry but a little breezy.
Plan for tomorrow: - MGM - and Shauns highlight of the trip!
