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Day 5:
Once again we started the day with a phone call from Mickey. Today was our scheduled day at Epcot, so we got up and headed out. Chris and Tommy decided to be lazy and meet us later in the day. We headed straight for Test Track and got FP for later. Then we walked over to see Mission Space. I'd been debating whether or not to try it, really wanted to but a little nervous after reading some of the posts... The standby line was only 10 minutes! We knew this would never happen again during the day, so Jonathan and I hopped in line. Brad and David went inside the play area at the exit. Well, we both loved the ride. I was constantly reminding him of all the safety precautions before and during the ride :) Jonathan was really impressed with getting to push the buttons--I guess he really thought it made the ride work or something. As we came out, we sent a video postcard to our best friends back home. We met up with Brad and David. Since our FP window was open, I used our 4 passes to get a set of FP for Mission Space for later when we'd meet Chris and Tommy. We headed over to Test Track to use our FP, but even that line was moving pretty slow. We had one of the longer waits of our trip. David was a little nervous because he's come to associate seat belts with "fast" rides (it's actually really cute when he tells us the ride doesn't go fast because it doesn't have a seat belt LOL). We finally got in a car and started out. About the time we got to the curve where the big truck is supposed to scare you, the ride slowed down and came to a stop. We were stuck right by the truck, and it took a minute or two for them to turn off the audio, so we kept getting the horn sound in our ears. It was also pretty dark, but they did turn up some of the lighting finally. After at least 5 minutes, they told us the ride would resume. We never did find out the problem, but it didn't help David like the ride!
We wasted some time in Innoventions until it was time to meet Chris and Tommy. I'd called him and told him to get his FP for Test Track on the way. We watched the Jammitors for a few minutes until it was time to get in line, then rode Space with them. Brad and David went back to the play area. We split up so Chris and Tommy could do Test Track, and we headed to the countries since that area had just opened. It was about 11:30, so we got lunch at the sidewalk cafe in Mexico. All four of us had a kid's meal, and it was plenty to satisfy us. We had some visitors during lunch in the form of birds. There were a few small ones, but of course the "seagulls" (ibises) joined us, too. The boys made the mistake of tossing a few tortilla chips out and by the time we left, there were about 6 ibises gathering to get our crumbs. The boys really enjoyed it, though. We started making masks in Mexico, and visited a few coun tries. The boys also really got into pin trading today, which made for added fun the rest of the week. David had to collect all "his girls" AKA the princesses.
We had PS for ice cream social at Garden Grill, so we headed over. Brad and I were rehitched by Mickey and Pluto and had to kiss to 100. Brad wasn't sure what was going on, but he played along. They didn't give us a certificate or anything, so I was a little bummed, but we did get some pictures thanks to Chris (although he didn't get the kiss!). We all went to the Imagination pavilion to see Figment, and it started to rain as we were entering. There was absolutely no line. The boys enjoyed Figment, and I enjoyed sharing it with them, since I remember the original Figment ride. We played a little in the Kodak area. The boys all got to make funny faces and have their pics taken at the giant camera, and then they sent a picture postcard to my mom. By the time we came out, the rain had passed through. We headed to Living Seas while Chris and Tommy used the surprise FP they'd received at Test Track to Honey I Shrunk the Audience (he later said it was not good to take the kids). David fell asleep, but we did get him awake to see the fish, and he loved it, especially the "Nemo" fish.
We left Future World and went back to World Showcase to finish our masks. We also saw the human statues in Italy. It sprinkled rain off and on, but wasn't too bad. In Morocco, we met up with Aladdin. As the boys had their masks stamped, I looked through the windows of a door and saw Jasmine. We quickly hurried around the corner to meet her--David was in heaven! In talking to her, she let us know that Belle and the Beast were in France, so we backtracked there. We had not met any of these characters on our last trip, so it was really exciting to add their autographs and pics to our collection. You should see David grin when he looks at the pics of "his girls."
As we were heading back toward Future World, we bumped into Chris and Tommy and made plans to meet at the food court in their resort later. There was no line for Spaceship Earth, so we hopped on. David didn't like it because it was so dark. Of course, we got stopped near the end where it's really dark. I didn't mind though; it was actually very peaceful sitting there watching the neon lights run across the ceiling. It was now almost 7 PM, anmd we headed back to our room. We drove over to the Music resort about 9--very late dinner for us, we usually eat around 5:30, but we'd had all that ice cream :) The boys shared a pizza, and the adults split two orders of pasta shells and salad. No one walked away feeling hungry!
Highlights: Mission Space, esp. the short wait, rehitching, meeting new characters
Downers: rain showers (annoying), Test Track problem
Day 6:
Today was our pirate adventure cruise morning, so we got to sleep "late." We ate breakfast in our room and headed to the van to drive to the Grand Floridian. Along the way, we didn't take the Magic Kingdom Resorts exit, so we ended up at one of the outer resorts asking for directions! Luckily, we made it in plenty of time, though. The boys were especially excited to be at the resort where the TV show Full House had been :) We took them to the dock, they got their pirate ears, I got my pager, and they boarded the boat. Jonathan and Tommy were raring to go, but David was a little unsure (he's a momma's boy!). He did fine though, as the other two kept close tabs on him. We adults took time to walk through the gift shop and lobby, and as we exited, one of the valets approached my husband about his Virginia Tech t-shirt. Jerry was originally from the town where the college is, and his father teaches there. VT alums a re a unique bunch, and Jerry and Brad chatted for a good 10-15 minutes. Then Jerry offered to drive us in a golf cart to the van--which we could pretty much see from where we were standing! I think he was just happy to meet someone from "home." Once we finally got back on the road, we went back to our hotels to get our swimming gear.
We journeyed back to get the boys, and it was precious to hear the boat full of children singing "Yo, ho, ho, a pirate's life for me...Aaaar ye landlubbers!" We got to watch them open their treasure chest, and by some Disney magic (lol) the treasure was already prepackaged in individual bags! They got a few strands of Mardi Gras type beads, some plastic gold coins, a plastic treasure box, eye patch, and some trinkets like rings and plastic lizards. They were thrilled with their prizes. It was worth the money to do once, although I doubt we'd splurge for it again. We still haven't gotten too many details from them, but there was something about a clue on a coconut, they docked at several different resorts, and one of the "captain" (cast members) had to be left behind for being greedy. She caught up with them, though, and repented of her sin :)
We started back to the van, and Brad went to be polite and say good-bye to Jerry (my DH is a polite guy). Then we headed to Typhoon Lagoon. We were excited until we got there and saw the line into the parking lot. We ended up parking in the cast member lot, way at the top of a hill. Then we had a struggle and stood in two different lines to finally get a locker, and all they had left were small ones. Needless to say, we made it all fit! I was not particularly happy about being here at this point! David and I headed to one of the kiddie areas while the others went to do one of the raft rides and the wave pool. We headed toward the waves and met up with them for a little bit, but we went back to the kid's area. David particularly liked the mini-tube ride. We all met up about 2. Then Brad and I switched kids. Chris, Tommy, Jonathan, and I hopped in the lazy river and rode to the shark exit. We wal ked down into the viewing area. I really wanted to swim, but no one would go with me :( Maybe next time. Chris got us an order of fries and a drink from the food stand (it took about 20 minutes to get it!), and then we went on the family raft ride--got soaked. We rode one of the individual raft rides, too, but I was very unimpressed.
Back at the wave pool, we met up with Brad and David. David and I sat down near the edge of the pool where we'd get wet but not drenched (he doesn't like water in the face) while the others went farther out. As we got ready to leave, I stopped to see the pictures they'd taken of us during the day and had to get one of David riding the kiddie raft. It was just too cute. We also received a souvenir mug rather than $2 back for returning our locker key. I bought a few other things in the gift shop, and we went back to our hotels to change.
We had a PS at Boma for dinner, so off we went to Animal Kingdom Lodge. All I can say is WOW! This is where I will stay if we ever splurge on a deluxe! Tommy got a headache while we were waiting (combination of too much sun, not enough food, and needing extra attention). Chris bought some motrin at the gift shop, and by the time we left he was better. He kind of moped through dinner and didn't eat anything, but our waiter, Gilbert, ended up not charging us for him either. We really enjoyed this buffet, and it will probably be a must-do when we get back to WDW. Even Jonathan, my very picky eater, tried some new foods. I really liked the pan bread and hummus, the cous cous, the mango tarts, the carrot ginger soup, and the potato and pasta salads. The brownie was delicious, but very rich. We went out to the animal viewing area and saw zebra and wildebeast.
As we returned to our hotel, Brad took me to Downtown Disney and dropped me off. I got to do some shopping ALONE! The World of Disney store was unbelievable. I got some of our souvenir/gift shopping done and bought a few scrapbook things for myself. I also arranged to have the biggest bag of stuff sent to our hotel so I didn't have to carry it. Then I headed to the bus stop and waited...about 2 minutes (pixie dust again). It was late when I got back, and all 3 of my guys were asleep. I'd had a nice two hours, though :)
Part 1, 2, 3, 4
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