Texan Mouseketeer
DIS Cast Member<br><font color=blue>I hurt people'
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2005
- Messages
- 1,139
Trip Report Day 3 June 9 Part 1
When Life Gives You Lemons, Buy Park Hoppers!
This morning we did not have to get up so early. The plan was to be at Epcot at 9 and walk up right as the park was opening. We ate breakfast in our room this morning and I think it helped out a lot, too. DS is in a better mood with some food in his belly! DD was up and at em and happy as could be. Oh, by the way, she was our alarm clock this morning. Beat the wakeup call and the cell phone alarm!
Perfect timing. As were walking up to the stroller rental at Epcot (after yesterday, we thought it would be easier on DS to have a stroller, he was a real trooper and never complained, but we didnt want to wear him out and I knew Epcot would be a lot of walking), we saw the characters come up for the morning opening. Funny thing was, I guess DS got his fill of characters from our three meals. He was like been there done that and didnt get too excited.
First thing we did was Spaceship Earth. DS was all excited about going in the big ball! Funny how this ride is seeming to get a little dated. When I first rode it in 1989, it was so cool to see what would happen in the future! Now, watching it, the last part is now not the future!
DS loved it, especially the part at the end where you could see Earth. For the rest of the trip, he told us he knew where the Earth was now, it is in the ball! DD did pretty well on it except for the fact that the ride stopped three times while we were on it. By the time we got off of the ride (with the five minute wait at the beginning), it had been about an hour. Those were some pretty long wait times! We took turns passing her from the back to the front of the car every time it stopped and fed her a lot of snacks during the wait times to occupy her.
Next stop, Journey into Imagination. We had a 12:00 reservation at Coral Reef, so the plan was to do this, then the Land, Innoventions and last the Living Seas before lunch. The Imagination ride was a complete walk on. There was no one around. Wonder why? I must say, I was disappointed since I have memories of my parents and I laughing over Figment and the Imagination song back when I was 14. Plus, the ride was loud in some parts. I wish I had DDs earplugs with me, because I wasnt prepared for that one to be loud. We go to the stuff after the ride, but it doesnt hold DSs interest for very long and we leave pretty quickly. Uh oh, I had read somewhere that this pavilion would take an hour! Hmmm Next up, the Land. I remembered about no strollers in the Land. But when we walked in and saw all the walking it would entail, we decided to forego this pavilion. I ran in and got fastpasses for Soarin just in case, but the time window was a bad one, right before lunch. I wasnt sure that would work out.
The sky is getting dark, but it is also pretty hot. So, we get a snack and go into Innoventions to find a place inside to sit down and waste some time. One thing about Epcot, there arent a lot of places that take strollers and there is not a lot of shaded seating. We found an empty stretch of carpet and all sat on the floor to share a Mickey bar, a coke and a water and just waited for someone to tell us to leave. Luckily, they did not. DD liked getting out of our arms (no, not the stroller since she kept standing up in it ) and crawled around some. Afterwards we take some time exploring the place. There were some neat things to look at and then we did the IBM postcard home to Nana and Grandpa (which well find out later I sent to an old email address, Oops!).
After we left here, we headed to find some RRs and figure out what we were going to do for an hour and a half before our dinner reservation. Time was passing slowly and we were hungry! We finally decided that DS was being braver than we anticipated so DH took him to see Honey I Shrunk the Audience. They didnt have FPs, but there was not a long wait time. I settled in on a park bench to feed DD a bottle and see if she would snooze some. No such luck, but we had fun tearing up the park map! While we were waiting it turned VERY dark and the wind whipped up. Hmm I started finding the panchos stuffed at the bottom of her diaperbag backpack and started pulling the plastic off. Then, I started hearing thunder. Just in case, I went ahead and pulled her new stroller cover out of the plastic bag and figured this might be a good time to figure out how this thing works. Then, the bottom fell out. Huge fat rain started falling and pretty heavily. Guess I need to figure it out pretty quickly! The rain actually felt pretty good, with it being so hot and humid! We ran over to the entrance of the bathroom and I covered her stroller up and put my pancho on. Please, DD please stay in your stroller now! I was already wondering if I would have to wrap her in a rain pancho since stubborn butt couldnt sit in a stroller. Nice little habit to develop one week before a huge walking trip, Id say! I opened up DH and DSs panchos and headed over to find the exit to their show. When they came out, they were like dang, what happened with the weather! DD loved the show, so that was a good choice. We all got panchos on and went to head over to the Coral Reef. It was about 11:35. On our way, DH decides to try to use his FP for Soarin and he would meet us at the restaurant. I was worried it would take too long, but oh well. We went on. By the time we got to the restaurant, the rain was already subsiding. We put up the panchos and stroller cover, but after awhile went to wait inside. At 12:05, I gave my name to get seated. At 12:10, they called our name, but no DH. Oops. I tell them to let other people go ahead and well have to wait. 12:25, DH finally comes strolling in. He liked the ride, but thought the FP wait was way too long needless to say and thought it was a little overrated compared to the Omni shows we have watched back home. They seat us about five minutes later and were very nice about the delay. Coral Reef was one of those places where I would have been unhappy if we were paying for it, but since it was on the dining plan, we liked checking it out. The view was nice, but it would have been better if we were a little closer. We were on the third row up. My food was all right, but DHs prime rib was not very good and he was missing Chef Mickeys from the night before. The worst part of this was how long everything took. We were ready to get out of there! We wanted the desserts to go, but we couldnt since they had ice cream in them. DH got the chocolate wave and DS and I shared the life raft. Both were very good. DD ate some of both of ours, too! We finally left some time close to 2:00. On our way out of the park it was only lightly sprinkling. We noticed that DD was breaking out all over her face and her eye was very red. What did she get into? Did she touch my shrimp and I missed it? Was she allergic to something in the chocolate wave? No, DH only fed her the ice cream part. We started to get very worried, and knew we would give her Benadryl as soon as we got back to the room. Luckily by the time we got to the room it started going down. We still gave her the medicine and by the time she woke up from her nap, it was completely gone, thank goodness! That was a scare for us. I had visions of trying to find a Dr. at WDW! So, in the midst of the rain, trying to get the kids home for a nap, the allergic outbreak, DH and I were discussing how Epcot was really not working out for us. We were having trouble getting around, and it is not the best place to tote a baby around. How can we rethink this? DH brought up what has worked for us so far, the Magic Kingdom. Is there still plenty of stuff left there for us to do, he asks? Oh yeah! So, new plans. We originally didnt have park hoppers one way to try to save money. When the kids woke up, we headed back to MK and bought park hoppers. It ended up being one of the best afternoons/evenings we had in the parks! It was a great time. This is where I throw in that no matter how much planning you do, the best planning is having some alternatives in mind when things dont go your way and to most of all be flexible! Taking the kids back to Epcot that afternoon just would not have worked out for us. Also, doing any of our planned activities at the hotel (renting a boat, renting the bikes, swimming in the pool) would also not have worked due to the weather.
Since this is getting so long, I will split it into two parts. I have to be able to talk about how proud I am that my brave son rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad when I was too scared to ride it when I was 22!
When Life Gives You Lemons, Buy Park Hoppers!
This morning we did not have to get up so early. The plan was to be at Epcot at 9 and walk up right as the park was opening. We ate breakfast in our room this morning and I think it helped out a lot, too. DS is in a better mood with some food in his belly! DD was up and at em and happy as could be. Oh, by the way, she was our alarm clock this morning. Beat the wakeup call and the cell phone alarm!
Perfect timing. As were walking up to the stroller rental at Epcot (after yesterday, we thought it would be easier on DS to have a stroller, he was a real trooper and never complained, but we didnt want to wear him out and I knew Epcot would be a lot of walking), we saw the characters come up for the morning opening. Funny thing was, I guess DS got his fill of characters from our three meals. He was like been there done that and didnt get too excited.
First thing we did was Spaceship Earth. DS was all excited about going in the big ball! Funny how this ride is seeming to get a little dated. When I first rode it in 1989, it was so cool to see what would happen in the future! Now, watching it, the last part is now not the future!
DS loved it, especially the part at the end where you could see Earth. For the rest of the trip, he told us he knew where the Earth was now, it is in the ball! DD did pretty well on it except for the fact that the ride stopped three times while we were on it. By the time we got off of the ride (with the five minute wait at the beginning), it had been about an hour. Those were some pretty long wait times! We took turns passing her from the back to the front of the car every time it stopped and fed her a lot of snacks during the wait times to occupy her. Next stop, Journey into Imagination. We had a 12:00 reservation at Coral Reef, so the plan was to do this, then the Land, Innoventions and last the Living Seas before lunch. The Imagination ride was a complete walk on. There was no one around. Wonder why? I must say, I was disappointed since I have memories of my parents and I laughing over Figment and the Imagination song back when I was 14. Plus, the ride was loud in some parts. I wish I had DDs earplugs with me, because I wasnt prepared for that one to be loud. We go to the stuff after the ride, but it doesnt hold DSs interest for very long and we leave pretty quickly. Uh oh, I had read somewhere that this pavilion would take an hour! Hmmm Next up, the Land. I remembered about no strollers in the Land. But when we walked in and saw all the walking it would entail, we decided to forego this pavilion. I ran in and got fastpasses for Soarin just in case, but the time window was a bad one, right before lunch. I wasnt sure that would work out.
The sky is getting dark, but it is also pretty hot. So, we get a snack and go into Innoventions to find a place inside to sit down and waste some time. One thing about Epcot, there arent a lot of places that take strollers and there is not a lot of shaded seating. We found an empty stretch of carpet and all sat on the floor to share a Mickey bar, a coke and a water and just waited for someone to tell us to leave. Luckily, they did not. DD liked getting out of our arms (no, not the stroller since she kept standing up in it ) and crawled around some. Afterwards we take some time exploring the place. There were some neat things to look at and then we did the IBM postcard home to Nana and Grandpa (which well find out later I sent to an old email address, Oops!).
After we left here, we headed to find some RRs and figure out what we were going to do for an hour and a half before our dinner reservation. Time was passing slowly and we were hungry! We finally decided that DS was being braver than we anticipated so DH took him to see Honey I Shrunk the Audience. They didnt have FPs, but there was not a long wait time. I settled in on a park bench to feed DD a bottle and see if she would snooze some. No such luck, but we had fun tearing up the park map! While we were waiting it turned VERY dark and the wind whipped up. Hmm I started finding the panchos stuffed at the bottom of her diaperbag backpack and started pulling the plastic off. Then, I started hearing thunder. Just in case, I went ahead and pulled her new stroller cover out of the plastic bag and figured this might be a good time to figure out how this thing works. Then, the bottom fell out. Huge fat rain started falling and pretty heavily. Guess I need to figure it out pretty quickly! The rain actually felt pretty good, with it being so hot and humid! We ran over to the entrance of the bathroom and I covered her stroller up and put my pancho on. Please, DD please stay in your stroller now! I was already wondering if I would have to wrap her in a rain pancho since stubborn butt couldnt sit in a stroller. Nice little habit to develop one week before a huge walking trip, Id say! I opened up DH and DSs panchos and headed over to find the exit to their show. When they came out, they were like dang, what happened with the weather! DD loved the show, so that was a good choice. We all got panchos on and went to head over to the Coral Reef. It was about 11:35. On our way, DH decides to try to use his FP for Soarin and he would meet us at the restaurant. I was worried it would take too long, but oh well. We went on. By the time we got to the restaurant, the rain was already subsiding. We put up the panchos and stroller cover, but after awhile went to wait inside. At 12:05, I gave my name to get seated. At 12:10, they called our name, but no DH. Oops. I tell them to let other people go ahead and well have to wait. 12:25, DH finally comes strolling in. He liked the ride, but thought the FP wait was way too long needless to say and thought it was a little overrated compared to the Omni shows we have watched back home. They seat us about five minutes later and were very nice about the delay. Coral Reef was one of those places where I would have been unhappy if we were paying for it, but since it was on the dining plan, we liked checking it out. The view was nice, but it would have been better if we were a little closer. We were on the third row up. My food was all right, but DHs prime rib was not very good and he was missing Chef Mickeys from the night before. The worst part of this was how long everything took. We were ready to get out of there! We wanted the desserts to go, but we couldnt since they had ice cream in them. DH got the chocolate wave and DS and I shared the life raft. Both were very good. DD ate some of both of ours, too! We finally left some time close to 2:00. On our way out of the park it was only lightly sprinkling. We noticed that DD was breaking out all over her face and her eye was very red. What did she get into? Did she touch my shrimp and I missed it? Was she allergic to something in the chocolate wave? No, DH only fed her the ice cream part. We started to get very worried, and knew we would give her Benadryl as soon as we got back to the room. Luckily by the time we got to the room it started going down. We still gave her the medicine and by the time she woke up from her nap, it was completely gone, thank goodness! That was a scare for us. I had visions of trying to find a Dr. at WDW! So, in the midst of the rain, trying to get the kids home for a nap, the allergic outbreak, DH and I were discussing how Epcot was really not working out for us. We were having trouble getting around, and it is not the best place to tote a baby around. How can we rethink this? DH brought up what has worked for us so far, the Magic Kingdom. Is there still plenty of stuff left there for us to do, he asks? Oh yeah! So, new plans. We originally didnt have park hoppers one way to try to save money. When the kids woke up, we headed back to MK and bought park hoppers. It ended up being one of the best afternoons/evenings we had in the parks! It was a great time. This is where I throw in that no matter how much planning you do, the best planning is having some alternatives in mind when things dont go your way and to most of all be flexible! Taking the kids back to Epcot that afternoon just would not have worked out for us. Also, doing any of our planned activities at the hotel (renting a boat, renting the bikes, swimming in the pool) would also not have worked due to the weather.
Since this is getting so long, I will split it into two parts. I have to be able to talk about how proud I am that my brave son rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad when I was too scared to ride it when I was 22!
