Friday was EPCOT day. We got a late start (shocker) but we just couldn't get everyone moving. We got there about 10:30. Since Jeffrey was so miserable with all the walking he had to do yesterday, we decided to rent a stroller where he could sit if needed to and also use it as a rolling locker for all the stuff everyone seems to find necessary to bring to the parks with them. I paid for a weeks rental on a single but when I got to the pick up point I found out that the lady had given me a receipt for a double. The lady at pick up said not to worry and just enjoy the bigger stroller. It turned out to be just what we needed because not only did Katherine have a place to sit if she got tired but there was a ton of room to put all our junk.
Here is a picture of them taking a rest break together.
As you can see even though they are 7 & 9 they both fit.
We first got fastpasses for Test Track then headed over to Mission Space. Em, Bri and Alex rode the orange (spinning, crush you into your seat) side and Jeff, Erin, Katherine, Jeffrey and I rode the green (wimpy baby) side. Our group got on and off in about 20 minutes and had time to visit Station Cool, the hidden museum behind it, and let the kids color at a Kidcot station before the other 3 got out of their side.
We all met up for lunch at the Garden Grill.
The food was fantastic. They are now serving roasted chicken in place of the turkey which I liked much better. We got some good pictures with characters and Chip loved Jeff's "Totoro" T-shirt. He wrote a message on Katherine's menu that said "Totoro gives me his acorns."
There was a running theme with Katherine's pigtails:
We went downstairs and rode Living with the Land.
I only took this one picture right before you go into the greenhouse of the giant movie screen showing Mt Fuji.
When we were done, Em and Bri struck out on their own and the rest of us headed over to the Living Seas. We rode the Nemo ride for the first time (it was a walk on) then waited about 10 minutes to see Turtle Talk which we had also never seen. The kids loved the real jellyfish and the stingrays in the waiting area.
Katherine wanted to sit in the back with the adults because she was afraid that Crush might ask her a question. We convinced her she would have a better time on the floor but she covered her face when Crush was looking around the audience to find someone to talk to.
I got one decent shot that came out and of course it was of Crush wearing his bikini top:
Next up was Ellen's Energy Adventure which is definitely one of my favorite rides!
It's so relaxing (well the part without the dinosaurs) and nice and dark. Jeff proved it by taking a nap through half of it.
When we got out it, we used our Test Track Fastpasses and hit another Kidcot station on the way out.
Since we had dinner reservations at O'Hana we decided to go back the room and relax a bit.
Em and Bri were already there showering away the heat and sweat.
We left in plenty of time to get to dinner but made the mistake of trying to connect with the Polynesian resort bus in Downtown Disney instead of going to the Magic Kingdom and catching the monorail. Our resort bus was pulling up to the Downtown Disney stop just as the Polynesian bus was leaving. I assured everyone that the buses come along fairly regularly so not too worry. Famous last words. The next bus didn't show up for 20 minutes and when it got to the next DTD stop there was a driver change-over and the next driver sat around for 10 minutes doing paperwork. Truly one of the longest 10 minutes of my life. When he finally decided to get moving, there was horrible traffic and getting through intersections to the next stop took forever. We stopped at Typhoon Lagoon where the driver waited for for an extended period of time to see if anyone showed up. No one did. THEN we stopped at the Contemporary Resort where a huge number of people were both getting on and getting off. And taking forever to do so. Finally we made it to the Polynesian 20+ minutes late for our reservation. Fortunately they sat us without problems.
Note to self... NEVER connect through DTD... Especially in the early evening.
Dinner was excellent and we had the perfect corner window table where we could see the castle at the Magic Kingdom. Our waiter on the other hand was awful. He forgot to bring the kids meals until the adults were almost finished eating, even though we reminded him several times and he said he would get right on it. I ended up bringing home their food in a doggy bags because they had been eating off our plates and weren't hungry anymore. Because we are a party of 8, our tip was figured in automatically to the bill total so we couldn't adjust it accordingly. I suppose we could have talked to a manager but it didn't seem worth it at the time.
We jumped on the monorail and headed over to the Magic Kingdom where we immediately caught a bus to Old Key West. No issues, no delays, very nice!
Our goal was to come home early, get to bed early (both of those happened) and then get up early and make rope drop at Hollywood Studios the next morning. You may begin laughing now. 9:15 the next morning found only me, Jeff and Alex up. And only Alex wanted to be up.
So I think we will go back to the original plan of sleeping in late and staying late at the parks. Since its summer and the parks are open late, it will work out fine.
Here is a picture of them taking a rest break together.
As you can see even though they are 7 & 9 they both fit.
We first got fastpasses for Test Track then headed over to Mission Space. Em, Bri and Alex rode the orange (spinning, crush you into your seat) side and Jeff, Erin, Katherine, Jeffrey and I rode the green (wimpy baby) side. Our group got on and off in about 20 minutes and had time to visit Station Cool, the hidden museum behind it, and let the kids color at a Kidcot station before the other 3 got out of their side.
We all met up for lunch at the Garden Grill.
The food was fantastic. They are now serving roasted chicken in place of the turkey which I liked much better. We got some good pictures with characters and Chip loved Jeff's "Totoro" T-shirt. He wrote a message on Katherine's menu that said "Totoro gives me his acorns."
There was a running theme with Katherine's pigtails:
We went downstairs and rode Living with the Land.
I only took this one picture right before you go into the greenhouse of the giant movie screen showing Mt Fuji.
When we were done, Em and Bri struck out on their own and the rest of us headed over to the Living Seas. We rode the Nemo ride for the first time (it was a walk on) then waited about 10 minutes to see Turtle Talk which we had also never seen. The kids loved the real jellyfish and the stingrays in the waiting area.
Katherine wanted to sit in the back with the adults because she was afraid that Crush might ask her a question. We convinced her she would have a better time on the floor but she covered her face when Crush was looking around the audience to find someone to talk to.
I got one decent shot that came out and of course it was of Crush wearing his bikini top:
Next up was Ellen's Energy Adventure which is definitely one of my favorite rides!
It's so relaxing (well the part without the dinosaurs) and nice and dark. Jeff proved it by taking a nap through half of it.
When we got out it, we used our Test Track Fastpasses and hit another Kidcot station on the way out.
Since we had dinner reservations at O'Hana we decided to go back the room and relax a bit.
Em and Bri were already there showering away the heat and sweat.
We left in plenty of time to get to dinner but made the mistake of trying to connect with the Polynesian resort bus in Downtown Disney instead of going to the Magic Kingdom and catching the monorail. Our resort bus was pulling up to the Downtown Disney stop just as the Polynesian bus was leaving. I assured everyone that the buses come along fairly regularly so not too worry. Famous last words. The next bus didn't show up for 20 minutes and when it got to the next DTD stop there was a driver change-over and the next driver sat around for 10 minutes doing paperwork. Truly one of the longest 10 minutes of my life. When he finally decided to get moving, there was horrible traffic and getting through intersections to the next stop took forever. We stopped at Typhoon Lagoon where the driver waited for for an extended period of time to see if anyone showed up. No one did. THEN we stopped at the Contemporary Resort where a huge number of people were both getting on and getting off. And taking forever to do so. Finally we made it to the Polynesian 20+ minutes late for our reservation. Fortunately they sat us without problems.
Note to self... NEVER connect through DTD... Especially in the early evening.
Dinner was excellent and we had the perfect corner window table where we could see the castle at the Magic Kingdom. Our waiter on the other hand was awful. He forgot to bring the kids meals until the adults were almost finished eating, even though we reminded him several times and he said he would get right on it. I ended up bringing home their food in a doggy bags because they had been eating off our plates and weren't hungry anymore. Because we are a party of 8, our tip was figured in automatically to the bill total so we couldn't adjust it accordingly. I suppose we could have talked to a manager but it didn't seem worth it at the time.
We jumped on the monorail and headed over to the Magic Kingdom where we immediately caught a bus to Old Key West. No issues, no delays, very nice!
Our goal was to come home early, get to bed early (both of those happened) and then get up early and make rope drop at Hollywood Studios the next morning. You may begin laughing now. 9:15 the next morning found only me, Jeff and Alex up. And only Alex wanted to be up.
So I think we will go back to the original plan of sleeping in late and staying late at the parks. Since its summer and the parks are open late, it will work out fine.
