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Now for the more tradition trip report:
The first day we went to Epcot. It was almost empty! I wondered if we were really supposed to be there. Very nice. right when we got
there the Characters on Holiday showed up. Got lots of autographs, but not all. Went on Test Track first thing with basically no wait.
Wandered around some more after that -- did whatever we wanted. About 10:45 we headed to World Showcase. More characters! This time
we got every one. Ended up catching almost all the shows. Decided to stay whole day and not go back to condo. Probably too long of a
day! Couldn't make it till time for the parades -- came back another night.
Didn't do many of the pavilions -- kids not that interested. Did some of the Kidcot stations, but started to get more crowded, and
kids less interested. Can't remember what we did for lunch. Ended up in Future World at dinner time, ate at the Land at counter service
places. Alot of food to choose from, but have to go to different counters to get it. Of course everyone wanted something from each
counter! Prices not too bad, considering. Little ones (5 and 7) didn't like Honey I Shrunk the Audience -- too scary, although 6 yr
old not too bothered by it. Would be like that the whole trip! Kids liked Innoventions (I think we did the west side only). The 5,6,and
7 yr olds loved this tag game there. They could have played all day! Also sent D-mail movie to a friend stuck at work -- lots of
fun, no wait.
Summary -- loved the shows, food not too expensive, but didn't do too many educational things other than the show in the American
pavilion. Still, I think the kids liked this park maybe the best -- surprised me completely!
Second and third days we went to MK part of the day. First day in park the monorail was down. CM said buses were faster, but neither
buses or ferry were fast. Long lines for both, but buses did end up being faster. Some visitors had to stand on the bus, but I think
even more had to stand on the ferry. Driver told us monorails would be up when time to leave the park, and when we left in early
afternoon, they were.
First off on Tuesday we ran into a bunch of characters in Main Street. Saw Daisy Duck on the right as you come in, got her
autograph. Seemed to run into characters all day! Giupetto (sp?) and Gideon even came up to us after DS got temporarily lost near the
castle. We stopped waiting in lines to get autographs unless they were extremely short (missed getting Mickey's in Epcot early Mon.
morning -- they don't stay for long -- waited in line, but Mickey had to leave).
Tried to get DS to get haircut in barber shop (hard to find, I thought -- tucked in corner. If standing right outside City Hall and
facing City Hall, it's to your right). Alot smaller than I imagined! Don't know how the Dapper Dans fit in there, much less tap
dance. There's one barber's chair and another seat for waiting. Someone in an earlier post said they thought they didn't take
appointments there, and that seemed to be true. DS wouldn't go for haircut although he needed one badly, and DH said he'd get one too.
Oh well!
We started in Adventureland (first "land" to the left). Looked for "spitting" tiki statues but couldn't find them. Did Aladdin's
Magic Carpet thing, no wait. Kids liked it, but it is a short ride. DH checked out line for Jungle Cruise -- too long. Found shortcut to
Frontierland in market area behind Aladdin, hit Splash Mountain and BTMRR. Kids liked these alot, although my scaredy-cat 5 & 7 yr olds
complained some, didn't want to do again. I think no wait for Splash Mountain, got Fast Passes for BTMRR. Lots more people at MK on
Tuesday than at Epcot on Monday. I heard a few people say they had done MK on Sunday, not nearly as crowded on Sunday. Still, no wait
for Splash Mountain the whole time we were there (maybe a 15 min wait one time, but not sure). Went to Tom Sawyer's Island while waiting
for Fast Pass time. Kids liked it OK, but they all split up, and we spent too much time trying to find them. I had told the kids that
Aunt Polly might have left some paintbrushes lying around, so they went all around looking for them. Don't think there were any! Kids
picked up all kinds of other things, though, that they probably shouldn't have. Probably I should have kept my mouth shut about the
paintbrushes...
Went to Fantasyland next. Very crowded. Got FP for Peter Pan, and did Small World while waiting. Small World is pleasant, but DH said
he really wanted a beer afterward. Kids were somewhat bored with it. Did Peter Pan next, thought it was nice enough, too, but
couldn't understand why the standby line (no FP) was so long. Skipped Pooh, went on Cinderella's Carousel. Kids liked that. Sword
in Stone ceremony right afterwards -- kids enjoyed that. Boy from Make a Wish org. picked to participate, was sweet, although he didn't
seem to enjoy the experience that much -- not sure why, maybe he was shy.
Came home to eat a late lunch at the condo. Kids went to pool w/DH for a couple hours while I caught up on some laundry. Went back to
MK that night to watch fireworks. Had a little time to do some rides, so DH and older kids did Space Mountain. They thought there
wasn't going to be much of a wait, but after they got in there were technical probs. on the ride. Ended up taking ~30 min. to get on.
SC (scaredy-cat) DD and DS and I went on Mad Hatter's Teacups. They loved it! Fought over whose turn it was to turn the teacup, but
other than that, it was great fun. No wait -- rode three times consecutively. Went out the exit closest to the entrance, and went
back in. Were empty teacups each time, so we weren't taking anyone's spot. I thought DH and rest of kids prob. done with Space Mountain,
so we headed back after 3 rides on teacups. Could have spent another 20 min. there, instead ended up waiting outside Space Mountain.
Should have used the walkie talkie earlier! Thought about doing the Speedway right next to SM, but had to be 52" to drive, and didn't
think I could fit DS and DD in car with me. Fantasy in the Sky started right as DH got out of SM.
SCs didn't like the fireworks (surprise, surprise). We ended up on the bridge going from the castle to the teacups (along with a ton of
other people). Missed Tinkerbell coming down. I had assumed she was part of the finale, but I guess she is part of the opening. After
the fireworks, crowd only got worse as you walked toward the exit. Stopped at ice cream shop on left as you come into Main Street, got
~$20 of ice cream. When done, all the crowds gone! No fighting for a spot on the monorail or tram to the parking lot. Nice way to end
the day, although it was late....
Wednesday -- slept in some, went to MK again. Hit Splash Mtn and BTMRR again (FP on BTMRR again -- this time got before went on Splash
Mountain -- worked much better). Headed over to Tomorrowland again. This time I went on Space Mountain. Wait sign said 5 minutes, was
actually only 3. DH went with SC DS and DD to get FP for Buzz Lightyear. Machines covered up -- not giving out FP, and wait time
was 30 min. Ended up skipping it. Thought we would do Astro Orbiter. I personally think this was one of the bigger OOPSes of the
trip. The line is deceivingly short; I thought we could do it in 10-15 min. We waited in line almost 30 minutes. Prob 10 of that in
direct sunlight. The ride itself is short and very similar to Aladdin's Magic Carpet thing and Dumbo. The really sad thing is we
could have stood in line for Buzz Lightyear (in the shade, even) for the same amount of time. I would NOT waste your time on Astro
Orbiter, unless you want a VERY quick aerial view of the park. There's probably a better way to do that, even.
Left about 12:30 to get lunch at home. Oldest DD REALLY wanted to do Blizzard Beach, so went there for a couple of hours. Had a pretty
good time, especially the older kids. DH and two oldest DDs did Summit Plummet. DH and 9yr DD said it hurt and was scary, but 10yr
DD denied it all -- said it was great. Supposed to be longest waterslide in the world. All I know is when you see it, the initial
part looks almost vertical. Don't know what else they did there, but seemed to have a good time. I had the three littlest (7,6,5 yr olds)
and we mostly just did Ski Patrol Training camp and wave pool. Did a little of the floating thing around the perimeter, but I didn't have
a place to keep my towel (no room left in the locker -- DH got a small, not a large) and it got wet during that thing. Plus I had a
bottled water, and the lifeguard made me get out with it. I'm not sure how my water could have polluted theirs; maybe she was just
worried about me littering. Anyway, we kept getting separated in the water, so I didn't really mind not doing that anymore. DD got
scraped up pretty good on the tube slide in the training camp area -- landing pool is VERY shallow, especially as you get out. Had no
bandaids, but found first aid area by lodge area. Park closes at 5:00, and weather getting yucky-looking by then, so we left about
4:30. Ate dinner at Chick-fil-A, waited out the rain there. Went back to hotel, let kids swim there, went to bed.
Part One, Part Two, Part Three
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