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Who: Cindy D. and Zachary (5) with friends Ashley and Nicholas (almost 4)
When: Wednesday, October 23 - Friday, October 25
Where: Wyndham Hotel on International Drive (pricelined for rate)
Parks: Epcot and Magic Kingdom
On Wednesday morning, Zachary and I picked up Ashley and Nicholas and we drove from Tallahassee to Orlando. We stopped in Ocala to eat lunch at the Steak and Shake and arrived in Orlando around 2:00 p.m. We were able to check in early, so we got our stuff in and then headed to Epcot where we had P.S. arrangements for the Garden Grill for dinner at 5 p.m.
We drove to Epcot and went in. We were heading to Test Track when Ashley spotted a familiar looking shirt - it was an email friend of ours that we were supposed to call while we were there to arrange to meet on Thursday. So we had our mini-F2F (face-2-face) with her and her family right by Spaceship Earth. Zachary and her son have the same exact birthday, so it was cool for them to meet their birthday buddy :)
We walked over to Test Track and got fast passes. We decided to go ahead and do the line as well because it was about a 30 minute wait. As we exited from the video room, the ride was suspended because of inclement weather (lightning and heavy rain). After about 10 minutes, we were evacuated from the line, given passes to return through the exit later in the evening (and as I found out later, we could have saved those passes and used them any day).
We dashed through the rain to Mouse Gears where we did some window shopping and then dashed over to what used to be a restaurant but is now more of a lounge area. We took a restroom break, tried to call home (but got no signal on the cell phone from where we were). So we dashed over to The Land where we were able to call home. Then we went on up to the Garden Grill and checked in to wait for our P.S. time.
None of us had eaten at the Garden Grill before. It is table service, all
you can eat. They bring out the food and you just help yourself. We had a lot of variety and the boys ate well. Zachary liked the chicken but he LOVED the macaroni and cheese. The best part of the meal was the pumpkin cheesecake. OMG - it was fabulous! We saw Chip, Dale, Pluto and Mickey. Zachary hid under the edge of the table when the characters came, so we didn't get any pictures of him with the characters, but I did get a couple of photos.
After dinner, we rode the boat ride at The Land which always fascinates me when we get to the Green House part. I want to do the Behind the Seeds tour some day, and Zachary was really interested, too, so I imagine we'll try to do that on a future trip.
After The Land, we went to Journey Into Imagination with Figment. I really liked it better than the last version. I hadn't seen the original one so I can't compare it, but this one is better than the second. Zachary really liked it although he was upset with Figment when Figment took over the tour :)
We walked over to Test Track and used our return passes for our ride.
Zachary loved it but was very serious in watching everything that was going on. Nicholas didn't want to do it a second time, but Zachary did, so he and I took our fast passes and went again.
Zachary's second favorite ride at Epcot is Spaceship Earth - we did it and for once didn't have to stop on the ride at all. Then we headed for the tram where we sat for about 10 minutes while they waited for the lightning to lessen. The boys were both asleep by the time we got back to the hotel. Zachary stayed asleep while Nicholas woke up for just a little while. We were all asleep by 11 p.m.
Thursday morning took us to Magic Kingdom where we picked up the 100 Years of Magic trivia booklet and a Birthday Button for Nicholas (we celebrated on Thursday). We rode the train to Fronteirland where we walked on to Splash Mountain, had a ten minute wait for Big Thunder Mountain RR, and then walked around Liberty Square. We rode the Haunted Mansion and while waiting in the queue, we discovered that Madame Leota's eyes open on the statue just
outside the entrance to the mansion itself. Very cool :)
We rode the Carousel and got Fast Passes for Pooh, then took a spin on the Speedway and the Mad Tea Party. By then it was nearly time for lunch, so we went over to the Liberty Tree Tavern (my favorite place to eat at the Magic Kingdom). After that, we grabbed fast passes for Peter Pan and were headed for Pooh when Nicholas felt sick, so Ashley took him to First Aid while Zachary and I hunted for trivia answers. We met up about 45 minutes later and Ashley wanted to take Nicholas to get his hair cut, so we split up again and then met up to go to Pooh. We came across Buzz Lightyear (the character, not the ride!) in Tomorrowland - Zachary didn't want to meet any characters but Buzz is IT for Nicholas, so we went to Goofy's Barnstormer while they met Buzz. Also during the time we were there, we rode Small World, Peter Pan, Tomorrowland Transit and Buzz Lightyear (twice). We left the park around 5:30 p.m.
Friday morning, we went back to Magic Kingdom to do Adventureland and Toon Town Fair as well as a few rides in Fantasyland that we had missed on Thursday. We got to ride in the front of the monorail on the way from the Magic Kingdom to the Ticket / Transportation Center to catch a different monorail for Epcot.
We got to Epcot around 1 p.m. and headed for the World Showcase where we stopped at each country for the kids to make a mask at the KidCot stations. In the U.K., we got to visit with Mary Poppins for a few minutes, and outside France, there was a wonderful act with a waiter and a guy climbing / balancing on chairs that was great entertainment. In Morocco, we met Aladdin and Princess Jasmine who signed the back of the boys' masks. We stopped at the American pavilion to watch the show there and to get something to eat (of all the times that I've been to Epcot, I never knew there was a restaurant on the side of the American pavilion). We made it through the rest of the countries, including taking the rides at Norway and Mexico. When we finished the World Showcase, we took a final ride on the Imagination ride and then sadly headed for the monorail. We did get to ride in the very front of the monorail on our return to the car, and then we drove back to Tallahassee.
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