Watch out WDW, Bajan first-timers are coming! Experience of a lifetime! DONE & pics

[U2_rocks!]

And who are these Bajans (translation: people from Barbados)??

Me: Coco (38), veteran and expert …… if you count internet research time! In reality, I’ve only been 3 times – once with DH years ago, once with 3 girlfriends in 2004, and last year I did a one day, 3 park solo whirlwind tour (while at a conference), which was a blast!

DH (42): let’s just call him Packhorse, since he’s in charge of all lifting and carrying!

DS (7): Call him Fish ….. he lives and breathes for fishing … totally obsessed!!

DD (5): Oh, she’s definitely Princess, no two ways about it! But she’s not a prima donna kind of princess – she’s just precious, sweet and totally endearing to all who meet her!

DD (4): now she’s a toughie … literally! She adores being a princess, yet she is a total bruiser too! She’s also under 40 inches, and the poor little mite is going to be very sad to miss some of the more exciting rides. She’s such an enigma, it’s hard to find a fitting name for her. She’s cuddly, giggly and a little bit naughty, like Boo from Monsters Inc. – so let’s go with that!

The girls have never been in a plane, never been to the U.S. – in fact, never been off our tiny island!! The Fish has been to the U.S. twice, before he was 2, and doesn’t really remember it.

Also coming: my mother (66) and father (65): “Granny” and “Granddad”– first time ever to WDW and Orlando, though they’ve been to Florida many times. Granddad just had a hernia operation, and while is in great shape generally speaking, he still cannot lift much – hence the need for The Packhorse!

This trip was hatched about 2 years ago, when I was knocking around the idea of taking the kids to WDW, and my parents suggested maybe they could let us use their timeshare weeks and exchange into an Orlando resort. Then we got to talking, and next thing you know, they’d agreed to come with us! We live next door to each other and are very close, so I have no reservations about traveling with them and staying in the same condo. We’ve done it before at their home resort in Barbados. Besides ….. free babysitters!!!

DH’s cousin S (aka Horse – she’s horse mad!) and her DH, I (aka The Grump – meant in the most affectionate way, of course ), and their DD (11), P, will be there roughly the same dates as us, and we plan to get together. I hope P will be able to watch TV in our condo with my parents while us thirty and forty somethings go out for some fun!

The passports are ready, the visas too, I have a stash of U.S. dollars and travelers’ checks and change for the tolls – we’re ready!! Friday involves getting up at 4 a.m. to make a 7 a.m. flight to Miami. We have to clear Immigration and Customs, then dump our luggage back in and head to the next gate. Luckily our layover is about 3 hours, which does leave some room for delays. We should land in Orlando around 3 p.m. (at last!!), at which point, having hopefully navigated our way to Cypress Pointe on the opposite side of the road to which we are accustomed, and without running over anyone along the way, the Fish’s first order of business will be to jump into the pool! Seriously, the boy could LIVE in water!

Plans for the rest of the day are relaxation, a little shopping for supplies and groceries at the nearest Wal-Mart, and early to bed. We have to gather our resources for Magic Kingdom bright and early the next morning!

 

[DebIreland]

Oooooooh, this is gonna be good!!! I love your attitude and I can feel the excitement coming off the page!!

You're from Barbados?? How exotic!!

yet she is a total bruiser too!

I thought 'bruiser' was an Irish word! We use that a lot here. lol!

I see you're leaving in just a few hours!! Have a brilliant trip - I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back. I hope it's magical in every way and everything you and the children dreamed of.

 

[U2_rocks!]

Thanks Deb - we're back, it was totally amazing, and I now need to get working on the trip report!

P.S. because of our English, Irish and Scottish heritage in Barbados, we use a lot of words that you do. We spell like you do too!

 

[DebIreland]

So glad you had a great time!!

And now for the TRIP REPORT!!!

We're waiting..... we're waiting.....

 

[U2_rocks!]

I was waiting to get some photos onto the computer (Dad still has most of them on his!), but I can do some photo posts later I guess.

Note: dining reviews are here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1452672
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1445758
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1452686


Day 1: Apr 20, arrival day

We were up at 4 a.m. to catch a 7 a.m. flight to Miami. It was tough for us adults, but the kids had excitement on their side! The flights were uneventful, everything went smoothly. The Packhorse (poor DH) was put to work. This was probably the most restful trip my Dad has ever had, thanks to his surgery!

We finally landed at MCO around 3 p.m. The regular line at Dollar was long, but I was an Express member so I bypassed it, and since Dad was putting me as a driver on his car just in case (Mum won’t drive in the U.S.), I persuaded the agent to process Dad (not an Express member) with us in the Express line. Of course he tried to sell Dad the whole “I have a lovely car here, only $X more” etc., but we weren’t buying it … sure enough, Dad was given a free upgrade to a premium car, no doubt due to no more intermediates being available!

We found Cypress Pointe easily enough – took the 417 to exit 6. The 417 is indeed much nicer and quieter than the 528 (Beachline). My parents were a bit behind us, as Dad took a wrong turn somewhere and had to turn around, so while we waited at the resort (he’s the timeshare exchanger, so he had to check us in) the kids changed and jumped in the pool. Boy was it chilly, but the kids didn’t care – they love any kind of water! There were cookies and bottled waters being given out in the lobby, which was nice. My friend Mia arrived with the inflatable mattress we were borrowing, and finally Dad and Mum showed up and checked us in.

Later on we did a Wal-Mart run for some food and park supplies, and tried to get a reasonably early night. I almost wished we could take a day to settle in rather than go straight to a park the next morning, but the kids were excited to go, and doing the MK tomorrow morning was a much better plan crowd-wise than doing it the day after.

Day 2: Apr 21, Magic Kingdom

Wow, it took us a while to get ourselves sorted out and out the door, and it took longer than I thought to get into the park! We’re staying offsite (no EMH) and driving, but very near to DTD – still, you know how it is with the MK and all the transportation needed just to get to the gate, not to mention how large WDW is to begin with! And I didn’t want to rush the newbies too much – they wanted photos etc. on the way up Main St. So it was 9.30 before we reached Dumbo. The wait was already 20 minutes, and that was just too long – it would have derailed our whole morning (I had a plan, darn it!). I knew we’d be back at the MK twice more, so we put it off till another time. We also knew that there are 3 other rides very much like Dumbo in WDW!

We knew that FPs in Fantasyland never have return times before 10, so we didn’t bother with any – we rode Peter Pan, then Pooh then the Carousel (kids’ special request - not on the "plan" ). By then it was approaching 10 and we had a date with Barnstormer! The wait wasn’t too bad, and the kids adored it, so we knew we could step up the thrill level over in Frontierland. We hopped onto the train and headed over. We didn’t have a stroller and wanted to preserve everyone’s feet. The kids were happy to have a train ride – we have no trains at home. Splash had a short wait, so we FPd BTMR and rode Splash. It was a cool morning and the Fish and I got very wet. I didn’t remember ever getting that wet on Splash before, and I regret riding it so early and on such a cool day! Oh well, the kids loved it, even if they weren’t so thrilled with being wet and cold! DH was glad he’d gotten in the row behind us – he and Princess didn’t get too wet.

It was approaching lunch time and everyone was starting to wilt a little, so off we went to LTT. After lunch we could see that the kids were fading, Princess especially, so we asked her what would perk her up. Her answer: Jack Sparrow! So off we went to Adventureland to catch the tutorial, but we just missed it …. we saw Jack run off. Oh well, we’ll catch it another day. We rode the magic carpets as we were right there and the wait wasn't bad – we had a great time trying to shoot water at each other via the spitting camel! My parents were like kids on this ride! When we were done it seemed like a good time to pop across to Philharmagic before leaving, as we were hot and needed some a/c! I also wanted to introduce the kids to the least scary of the 3D movies. Everyone loved it – Boo kept reaching out her hand to try to touch everything! Then we headed to the hub and caught the horse drawn wagon down to the flagpole. It was a great first day!

ETA: we never got around to using our BTMR FPs, so on the way out I scoured the crowd for a group of 3 who looked like they would ride it. I finally found a group and gave them the FPs ..... at first they recoiled from me like I was trying to sell them something (drugs?? dunno ....), but after I explained they were quite happy! I like passing on a little magic!

 

[canouangirl]

totally looking forward to your report .... makes it real for us little Caribs!!

only 5 months and counting for us

 

[U2_rocks!]

Day 3: Apr 22, Animal Kingdom

As usual someone kept us back this morning (it was the theme of our trip ) – it’s hard to get 6 other people organized! Funnily enough, it was usually DH waiting too late to shower, or Dad fiddling with his camera and backpack that kept us back. Mum, the kids and I were usually at the door waiting impatiently! So there, it's NOT always the women holding up the show!

My parents thought they might sign up for the Backstage Safari Tour next week on our second AK day, at which time the rest of us would do the Safari ride and Africa, so today we decided to start the day with Dinoland. My parents weren’t interested in that, so they decided to do the other parts of Africa and meet us back in Dinoland. We passed by Everest first and it was a zoo – even the lines to get FPs were really, really long! I do not know where all these people came from! The Fish was the only kid tall enough to ride, so I was encouraging DH to take him (since I’ve done it twice and DH has never done it), but DS wasn’t quite ready. He enjoyed watching the ride cars come down the mountain a few times and listening to the screams, but we could tell he wasn’t ready to do that himself.

Dinoland was empty! We played some carnival games and “won” 4 stuffed animals – 2 frogs and 2 dinos. Hint: some of the games require the players to compete against each other and only reward the winner, so if you’re playing against a bunch of strangers you aren’t that likely to win. But if your family is the only one at a particular game, you’re guaranteed to win something amoung you! Yes, you have to pay for each child to play so they’ll be playing against each other, but it’s usually $2 or $3 each to play, and some of the stuffed animals are quite cute and decent sized. We had the animals sent to the front of the park. By the time Fish decided he would ride Primevil Whirl the wait was 20 mins, so I got FPs for him and DH …. and the machine spit out a freebie – 6 people on Dinosaur!! Woohoo …. that was on the agenda after meeting up with my parents anyway!!! Meanwhile we rode the little flying dinosaurs together and then found a bench to eat our sandwiches (we were going cheapo and light today). We finally reached my parents via cell and found out where they were, and agreed to meet at Flights of Wonder in 15 min for the next show. It was a nice show. I liked that they only train them in natural behaviours rather than unnatural ones, though there is quite a push at the end to support Disney's conservation efforts. After that my Mum and I took Fish and Princess on Dinosaur with the freebie FP – the kids loved it, but it scared my Mum a little at times, because she didn’t feel quite secure enough in the ride vehicle. She said that was her maximum thrill level!

After Dinosaur we were pooped – it was after 1 p.m. and we all felt the need for a break. We still hadn’t rented a stroller, and the kids were feeling all the walking. We were trying to do without to save $ and hassle, and I regret it now. Anyway, live and learn. On the way towards the exit we passed TTBAB and decided to do it, as the wait time was short. Everyone loved that too – the kids weren’t that scared, there were only a couple of moments where they covered their eyes or something.

We were booked for Boma at the AKL later that evening, but we all needed to rest, so I cancelled and rebooked for another day. Meanwhile Dad had a hankering for Chinese (despite his numerous allergies, he can eat non-spicy sweet and sour chicken once it doesn’t have MSG). I suggested 168 Chinese Restaurant, as I knew from my internet research that you could get it MSG-free. But I couldn’t remember the address, so I looked it up in the phone book. Well, one of the locations was on SR 436, and I thought for some reason that it was just up the road, and I called and ordered. And when the lady asked me "are you sure you know where it is?", like an idiot I said yes. Dad and I hopped in the car and set out to look for this place, to no avail. Hmmm….. what went wrong? Well, turns out SR 436 starts way out East and ends up way up North in Altamonte Springs! Oops. The lady at the restaurant was very understanding when I called back to cancel. Then Dad remembered there was a place next door, so we popped over to check it out. Well, it was perfect – no MSG, huge buffet, fine for Dad. It was called NY China Buffet. So, everything worked out, but it was quite the adventure!

Stay tuned for more, and for pictures. Between Dad and myself we have over 700 photos .... but I promise I won't post ALL of them here!

 

[rentayenta]

Love the pre-trippie! It's also very cool that you have a photo of my boyfriend in your avatar!

 

[U2_rocks!]

Love the pre-trippie! It's also very cool that you have a photo of my boyfriend in your avatar!

Paws off!

Hope you enjoy the rest of the report.

 

[rentayenta]

Paws off!

Hope you enjoy the rest of the report.

Oh, I am very uninterested in his paws.



I have a very good friend who says Barbados is her favorite spot on this planet!

 

[U2_rocks!]

Photos from Magic Kingdom:

Here's us on Main St. I'm wearing the white shirts and black shorts, DH is to my right (left when facing us - the guy on my other side with all the stuff around his neck is not with us!); Mum and the Fish are on the left of the photo, and the girls are in front of us - Princess in orange, Boo in pink.

Fish on the carousel, with Princess slightly to the right:

Barnstormer!

DH and Fish on Peter Pan:

 

[islandmum]

how did you find the weather??

I'm worried about going in Oct and it being freezing .... and we've got no warm type clothes. Oct is pretty identical weather to April/May so I'm interested to hear how you found it.

How did you find it? did you need sweaters? was it chilly first thing? was it cold for your kids in the pool?

we're a couple of degrees warmer than you guys in Bbds so I'm nervous we're going to get chill!

 

[U2_rocks!]

Our first Animal Kingdom day:

We asked someone to take this photo of us so that Dad could be in it too!

 

[U2_rocks!]

how did you find the weather??

I'm worried about going in Oct and it being freezing .... and we've got no warm type clothes. Oct is pretty identical weather to April/May so I'm interested to hear how you found it.

How did you find it? did you need sweaters? was it chilly first thing? was it cold for your kids in the pool?

we're a couple of degrees warmer than you guys in Bbds so I'm nervous we're going to get chill!

Definitely take some sort of light cardigan or sweater or jacket. The weather in late April/early May this year started out cool in the mornings and got very warm by early afternoon, then cooled off again once the sun went down (there were no clouds most of the time, so the heat vanished quickly once the sun was gone). It wasn't COLD though - not cold enough to see your breath or anything. My Mum likes to stay warm, so she took her sweater everywhere so that she could wear it in cool a/c. I rarely took mine anywhere - I liked the cool. The kids took theirs occasionally. As the trip progressed it got warmer and warmer, and there was no need for a sweater or jacket at all, not even at night.

It's still good to have one just in case, no matter what time of year you go. Sometimes planes are cool, or the airport - so it's good to have something warm with you for the trip, even if you don't wear it much once you get there.

I went to WDW in mid October 2004, and there was one night at Epcot that was FREEZING! Well OK, maybe not freezing to most Americans, but it was freezing to my Bajan friends and I! I could see my breath! So it can get chilly then for sure! Be prepared! All the days were warm and nice, though.

As for the pool - the unheated pool was colder than the sea ever gets at home, and the heated pools were about the same as our sea. Pools vary though, in terms of how exposed to the sun they are, how deep or shallow etc. If they are in any way heated they will be OK.

 

[DebIreland]

I'm loving this! Great job so far. It sounds like you had very successful days at MK and AK.

How was Cypress Pointe? Would you stay there again?

I love the photos. What a great looking family you are!!

on the way out I scoured the crowd for a group of 3 who looked like they would ride it. I finally found a group and gave them the FPs ..... at first they recoiled from me like I was trying to sell them something (drugs?? dunno ....)

I know exactly what you mean. That happened to us a couple of times too. I think the vast majority of park guests don't know what Fastpasses are.

Looking forward to more.....

 

[islandmum]

Definitely take some sort of light cardigan or sweater or jacket. The weather in late April/early May this year started out cool in the mornings and got very warm by early afternoon, then cooled off again once the sun went down (there were no clouds most of the time, so the heat vanished quickly once the sun was gone). It wasn't COLD though - not cold enough to see your breath or anything. My Mum likes to stay warm, so she took her sweater everywhere so that she could wear it in cool a/c. I rarely took mine anywhere - I liked the cool. The kids took theirs occasionally. As the trip progressed it got warmer and warmer, and there was no need for a sweater or jacket at all, not even at night.

It's still good to have one just in case, no matter what time of year you go. Sometimes planes are cool, or the airport - so it's good to have something warm with you for the trip, even if you don't wear it much once you get there.

I went to WDW in mid October 2004, and there was one night at Epcot that was FREEZING! Well OK, maybe not freezing to most Americans, but it was freezing to my Bajan friends and I! I could see my breath! So it can get chilly then for sure! Be prepared! All the days were warm and nice, though.

As for the pool - the unheated pool was colder than the sea ever gets at home, and the heated pools were about the same as our sea. Pools vary though, in terms of how exposed to the sun they are, how deep or shallow etc. If they are in any way heated they will be OK.

we dont do the cold! I think its going to be a bit of a shocker to the boys ... we did christmas in the UK this year and all they did was complain and shiver LOL!!

I'll definately take a few sweaters with us and long pants too .... our poor carib skin chills so easily

 

[U2_rocks!]

we dont do the cold! I think its going to be a bit of a shocker to the boys ... we did christmas in the UK this year and all they did was complain and shiver LOL!!

I'll definately take a few sweaters with us and long pants too .... our poor carib skin chills so easily

The problem is, it will only be chilly for the first hour or two - then it warms up, and if you stay in the park until after lunch you'll be dying of heat if you're not dressed in layers that you can take off!

 

[U2_rocks!]

I'm loving this! Great job so far. It sounds like you had very successful days at MK and AK.

How was Cypress Pointe? Would you stay there again?

I love the photos. What a great looking family you are!!

Thanks for the compliment!

I'd stay at Cypress Pointe again if the price were right and we were looking for a condo. The thing is, I realized that a lot of the time we grown ups didn't want to take the kids to the pool, especially if there wasn't a lot of time, or we had things to do in the condo. So, we're looking into a pool home next time, so we don't have to go anywhere to swim! Or, we may get a family suite or connecting rooms at ASMu if we decide to go during free dining. Haven't decided. But Cypress Pointe was fine. We would do Phase 2 next time though - the volcano pool in Phase 1 was just too cold for us, and the second bedroom of a 2 bedroom condo will be too small for us in a few years when the kids are bigger.

 

[U2_rocks!]

Day 4: Apr 23 – Magic Kingdom

My parents were going to visit a friend down in St. Cloud this morning, and we were going back to the MK after our ‘Ohana breakfast at 8.10. We got to the Polynesian on time (parked at the TTC and took the monorail) and didn’t have to wait too long. We really enjoyed it, the food, the kids dancing etc. …….. but I was sooo upset with myself ……. I forgot the camera!!!!!! So I got no pics of the kids with Lilo & Stitch! Poor characters …… they weren’t quite sure what to do with us b/c we weren’t taking pics or asking for autographs – the kids just hugged them. I don’t know why I didn’t race out of the room as soon as I noticed we had no camera and bought one at the convenience store in the lobby! Lilo was headed our way when I noticed no camera, and I didn’t want to miss her, so I stayed put.

It was after 9.30 when we reached the MK after b’fast. We started in Tomorrowland with Buzz (Fish hadn’t made up his mind about SM yet). I grabbed FPs for SM anyway, just in case. We didn’t bother with Astro Orbiter or Stitch, and thought maybe we’d come back to Laugh Floor. We did Mad Teacups and met Alice and the Mad Hatter …. but no camera, and no Photopass people either! Grrrrrr.. We did meet Alice again in Epcot and got a fuzzy, dark photo, but that was our only chance with the MH. Oh well. We nipped into FL to do Snow White. Dumbo line was still too long, so we skipped. By this time it was after 10, and time to get out of FL before the mob! Pirates was closed due to some problem, and they didn’t know when it would reopen. We waited around for the first tutorial, and got front of rope spots – in fact, Princess was asked to put her foot on the rope when the pirate was spreading it out. The Fish got chosen to participate (because he was wearing a shirt with fish on it!), and silly me still hadn’t bought a disposable camera! I was feeling really cheap that day I guess! I can’t believe we never got any pics of Jack and the kids! We also got to meet Captain Hook and Mr. Smee without too long a wait – and luckily there was a Photopass guy there so we could get pics! Hook kept trying to steal my gold bracelet, and tried to kidnap me for it! Bad Hook, bad!

Afterwards we went and did Big Thunder at last (I took Fish and Princess while DH relaxed near the water with Boo). We then scooted back to see if Pirates was open yet – and it was!!!! It had just opened, so we practically ran to get in before everyone else clued in that it was open (and good thing too – by the time we exited, the line was horrible)! By this time we were ready for a snack or drink or something. DH was in the mood for ice cream, so we all got soft serve near the flying carpets. Fish managed to let his ice cream fall off his cone. Really, it was one of my only annoyances with one of the kids – generally speaking they were really, really good (well, other than the fighting every single car trip. I am SO glad I have a van at home, where they are separated into 2 rows). My annoyance didn’t last long – I was in Disney after all! I shared my cone with him in the end (did I really need all those calories anyway??) and then we left – it was hot and we were all tired, and we needed to rest and come back tonight for fireworks!

We had sandwiches and lunch stuff when we got back, and the kids all slept and DH and I lay down (well, he worked on his laptop too). Around 5.00 or so we were ready to venture back to the park. At the gate I separated from the group to run and get a stroller (I’d finally wised up), and I handed out my family’s tickets before I went. My parents still had their own from yesterday when we’d entered AK separately to do our own thing. Dad didn’t realize that the same ticket was for the whole trip – he’d seen me handing around tickets to everyone on Saturday and again on Sunday, and thought he’d get another one from me today, so he left his ticket back at the condo. Mum had tucked hers away and had it with her. She and DH met up with me and left Dad talking to the CMs, trying to figure out how to avoid having to go back to the condo. I ran down there to help (since I’d bought all the tickets and could maybe get a replacement for him), and found him walking towards me …. inside! Some nice CM had given him a cast member pass to use! A little magic there for us!

We went to take pics of the castle, since we were in too much of a hurry to do closeups our first day. We realized that a forecourt show was going to start soon, so we waited. It was cute, but the sun was HOT and glary … we were glad it wasn’t a minute longer! After the show DH took The Fish to ride SM with the FPs we’d grabbed that morning……. he loved it! Funnily enough, the standby wait was only 20 mins – this was around 6.15 p.m. on a Monday, one of only 4 days that week with Spectro and Wishes showing. I was surprised – I thought it would have been longer. The rest of us explored the Rose Garden (while Dad took pics), and then Tomorrowland. We enjoyed running through the misters to cool off!

Our main ride this evening was to be the HM, which I knew my parents would love, so off we went. It was only a 15 minute wait at 6.30. The kids weren’t scared, they enjoyed it. My Dad was endlessly fascinated by the technology in the rides and attractions – I don’t think my parents realized just how different WDW would be from your run of the mill amusement park, which is all they had ever experienced. After HM we strolled around and took more photos. This is a recurring theme with Dad – he takes photos of everything. I think he had about 600 photos of this trip!

We started to head back towards Main St. via Adventureland, and noticed that Pirates only had a 10 minute wait. Knowing how much Dad had enjoyed all the other audio-animatronics, I recommended that we ride it. I think it was one of his favourites! He and Mum both loved it. I had thought the Jungle Cruise might be nice, but the wait was 40 mins at 7.15 and we had to get down to Tony’s for 7.45, so we had to skip it.

After watching Spectro from the verandah of the Kodak store next to Tony’s, we were debating whether to leave the park and watch Wishes from the ferry dock or whether to just stay put. When we had left the MK on day 1 via ferry, I had noticed a spot on the dock where the view of the MK castle was wonderful, and I had thought maybe we could watch from there. But the crowd didn’t seem that bad at the flagpole, and I wanted to hear the soundtrack (I’ve never seen regular Wishes, only Hallowishes), so we decided to stay. I almost regret that now – I felt like we could have done with a little more distance to really see the whole range of fireworks, plus there was a tree that was blocking part of it. Next time I think we might watch from outside. We decided to take the ferry back after Wishes, and I’m not sure now if that was such a good idea. We decided on it because we knew for sure we’d get on the first sailing, since it takes so many people – but what we didn’t count on was it waiting so long to fill up to capacity. Then, we had to wait for the Electric Light Parade barges to pass by before we could head out. At least we got to see most of the ELP from the ferry.

Day 5: Apr 24 – shopping & relaxation day

No plans today – everyone was recovering from the late night. DH and I went to LBV Factory Stores and did a little shopping. We also did Wal-Mart and Target. We Caribbean people take every opportunity to shop when we are in the U.S.! DH and I finally got in contact with his cousin and her family (Horse, Grumpy & P), and we met them for dinner at Black Angus. DH was in a steak mood, and it was in walking distance of both our hotels. It was good, but not cheap by any means.

 

[U2_rocks!]

Day 6: Apr 25 – Epcot

Today’s priority was FW west, including Soarin but not The Seas (that was planned for another time). My Mum, DH and the Fish are all very interested in gardening (Fish has started his own little kitchen garden at home), so they stopped at an exhibit to look and buy seeds etc., while I ran to get FPs for Soarin. We then bypassed The Land completely and headed over to JITI and HISTA. On the way we passed Character Connection and saw Mary Poppins standing all by herself outside!

We made a beeline to her, and then went inside to meet the rest. We also met Figment over at JITI – he was all alone too! My parents and the kids were fascinated by the jumping fountains outside the Imagination Institute – it’s neat how they do that!

We finally made it over to the Land around 11.15 and we were hungry, so we went straight to Sunshine Seasons. There we took turns eating and riding Soarin (poor little Boo wasn’t tall enough, so someone had to stay with her!). On our way out we checked the Land attraction, but the wait time was 20 mins and we didn’t feel like waiting. Circle of Life was about to start another show, so we nipped in to digest our food in cool comfort! By this time it was approaching 1 p.m., and we called it a day, as we needed some rest for the evening session.

Some Flower & Garden photos:

We had a 7.30 ADR at R & C this evening, but Mum wasn’t feeling great – she had a bad sore throat coming on. We ended up going back to Epcot without my parents around 5. As we walked in we did Spaceship Earth with no wait – in fact, it was dead! Wonderful time to do it! Then we decided to go over to the Seas, just to check things out, even though it was planned for tomorrow, and it was very quiet! No wait for the ride (which was cute), and we got great seats for the 6.20 p.m. Crush show! In fact, Crush wasn’t even full. It was a lovely time to visit the Seas. We then went and did Canada and England. Once we got to England we headed for the toy store to see if Pooh and the gang were there, and they were! I checked into the podium for R & C, and after getting the pager we took the kids to play in the maze. There we met Alice again and the kids had a nice chat with her – no line, no-one around.

Illuminations was nicer than I remembered, except that there’s one quiet part in the middle that’s not as interesting. We were very close to the action on the R & C patio – unfortunately we had to stand, as we didn’t get a patio table, but that was OK. I was glad we were one of the first to think about heading to the patio, because I wouldn’t have wanted to be any further back in the standing crowd on that tiny patio. The kids did really well again, being up late – no fussing, tears or tantrums. The drinks they got at the R & C came with little light up Tinkerbells and Captain Hooks clipped onto the straws - cute. And Fish was asked to guard the jewel chest. We really wished my parents could have been there.


Day 7: Apr 26 – unexpected day off (Epcot had been planned)

Mum headed to the doctor b/c her throat felt more bacterial than viral, and she wanted to stop it before it got too bad. Cypress Pointe recommended someone, and off they went. We just hung out, went shopping again, went in the pool.

We were supposed to go to Epcot in the afternoon and do some countries of the WS (we had ADRs at Biergarten), but Mum wanted to rest, and the rest of us were more tired than we thought, so no-one went!