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Trip Report - Day Two
January 12, 2003
Chris-38, Todd-35, Sydney-5, Melanie-2.5
I woke up feeling a little better. Enough that I was able to make it to our first day in the parks! Thank goodness! The weather was very chilly and I was
glad I’d packed mittens and hats for all of us.
We got to Magic Kingdom at 8:15 and the park was filled with runners for the Marathon. It was neat to see everyone out there cheering them on but I started
wondering if we had really bad timing. They let us in the gates right away although our PS wasn’t until 9 am. We headed straight for the castle and were
able to get seated at 8:30.
The girls really enjoyed the princesses. When I asked Sydney what she was going to say to Cinderella she told me she was going to thank her for the
postcard she sent. This postcard was sent to her for her birthday by one of our MFL members. It really made an impression on Syd. We got to see the two
mice from Cinderella too as they were cheering on the runners on the balcony outside the window.
The meal was very good and they had made some changes since I ate there in August. They are now putting blueberry pie filling on top of the cream cheese
filled french toast and I could have done without that. They are also giving every table a bowl of granola and yogurt which was delicious.
Right outside the castle, a couple was exchanging wedding vows. The bride looked beautiful but a little cold and they had a really colorful chuppah. I
wondered what they had to do to arrange that wedding. We later saw them on the weather channel and found out they both were participants in the marathon.
After breakfast, we headed for Adventureland where Sydney insisted on riding the Magic Carpets. Last year we had a terrible time with her refusing to ride
anything she couldn’t see. Dumbo was in, Peter Pan was out. Magic Carpets were in, the Pooh ride was out. We had hoped things had changed over the past
year but she still refused to ride most rides. Melanie would ride anything so we nicknamed her Easy Rider.
There were no lines at all and the park had cleared out of all the runners. Everything was a walk on! We rode one ride after another. Todd rode Splash
Mountain and as we waited I counted 1, 2, 3, 4 empty cars come down the big drop before one that was halfway filled came down. The cast member even asked
him if he’d like to ride again before he got off.
By noon we were ready for Epcot. We took the monorail and I managed to bribe Sydney with 10 Disney Dollars so she’d ride Spaceship Earth. She loved it as I
knew she would and we hoped she would not be afraid to ride similar rides.
We got our traditional Margaritas as soon as we hit Mexico! Even in the cold they tasted pretty good! We wandered over to Germany to eat at Biergarten
since we had walked off our french toast by then. I tried to get my Annual Passholder discount on our meal but had forgotten it was only valid Monday
through Friday. Ugh.
After lunch we made our way back around World Showcase and saw the living statue in Italy. Usually you find them in France but each time we saw them on
this trip they were in Italy. Sydney and I could have watched her forever but Todd was getting antsy so back to our World Showcase circuit.
I had to see the World Trade Center flag since I’d missed it on my last trip. It was very moving and I snapped a couple of pictures of it. I had heard there
is a marker in this part of Epcot that denotes the center of Disney property and I wanted to see it. I asked a cast member who said he’s worked there for
12 years and has never heard of it. Hmm, go figure!
Syd’s Disney Dollars were burning a hole in her pocket so when we got to Morocco she bought an autograph book and Mickey pen. She had seen other kids
getting autographs and thought it looked like fun. There seemed to be more characters in all the parks than in previous visits so it got a lot of use.
We went back to Future World and I was able to talk Sydney into riding Journey Into Imagination. She really enjoyed it and we found out that if we tell her
we’re going to see a show she’s more willing to go.
We hit Ice Station Cool which is always a big hit with the kids. Sydney helped a cast member stack paper cups and she gave her a pin. This little bit
of magic really made her day!
We really took our time to stop and smell the roses on this trip. The kids were having a blast exploring and we just enjoyed the sunshine. It still
wasn’t warm enough to go without a jacket but the sun was lovely.
One more time around World Showcase which ended in me getting fish and chips in the U.K. at Harry Ramsden’s. We wanted to catch the fireworks at Magic
Kingdom as we’ve never seen them before so we jumped on the monorail and headed over.
We had a little time to kill so we rode the teacups and Sydney said she wanted to ride the Indy Speedway cars in Tomorrowland. As we were standing in line,
Todd commented about how spooky the Haunted Mansion must be at this time of night. That was all I needed to hear! I told him I was skipping out of the
cars and I’d meet him in about 20 minutes. I remembered someone had told me about the ceiling in the stretching room and I had to check it out.
I ran from Tomorrowland to Liberty Square with Melanie in my arms. I was huffing and puffing by the time I got there and thankfully there was a short
line. When I was in the stretching room, I kept my eyes on the ceiling. It looks like a regular tiled ceiling until the lights go out. When they come
back on, the ceiling is opaque and you can make out a swinging body hanging from above. It was very cool and worth the jog from Tomorrowland!! After the
ride I sprinted back to meet Todd and to find a spot for the fireworks.
Sydney insisted on riding the carousel so Mellie and I waited for her and Todd while we listened to the music and watched the castle change colors. It’s a
memory that is burned into my mind. We chose our spot near the castle so we could see Tinkerbell make her trip from the castle but when the fireworks
started we realized we were in a bad spot. We moved to the back where we had a decent view but I’m sure there are better places.
After the fireworks we trudged back to our car with the masses. We were completely exhausted by this time and looking forward to sleep. We had nothing
planned for the following day and the weather looked iffy.
Day: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
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