Trip Report Epcot is Glowing

Hello Everyone. We made it back from our 10 day trip a few days ago. I had a lot of fun working on my last trip report, so I wanted to do one for this trip too. The big change from last time??? We took both kids along for their first trip to Disney.

Leading up to our trip, I had a lot of conversations with people I work with about our vacation plans. I guess I was just so excited that I was steering conversations that way. What I learned is that a lot of people see visiting Disney World with kids as an obligation. When I would tell them where we were going, I'd get, "Oh, you're going there..." It got to the point where I'd be able to finish their story before they did. They spent (insert high amount) of money to go there, it was hot and the kids only wanted to go to the pool, and they ended up not remembering the trip. They knew that Disney was something they should do with their family, but did not enjoy their trip while they were there. Maybe it had something to do with the fact I talked to a lot of dads.

I'm glad to say our trip was nothing like this. Sara, myself, and the kids had a great time, and Luke, our 4 year old, is constantly talking about what he enjoyed and what characters we met. As any parent can tell you, traveling with young children certainly has it's challenges (and that might be a nice way to say it). But it also has some truly great moments as children are able to fully immerse themselves in the magic. I'm very happy to say we had a good number of those moments.

The trip started at 3:15am on Friday.

We had done most of the packing the night before. The kids slept in comfortable clothes, so we were able to get them up and place them in their car seats with the goal being to have them go back to sleep. They did fall asleep, but Luke woke up again before the sunrise.

Yes, this was a drive to WDW, first time we had done that. We did have a DVD player in the minivan, and I can't put into words how helpful this was. Ok, I could, but I doubt you'd want to read it. We threw on a Jake and the Neverland Pirates DVD, and made it south of Richmond for breakfast at McDonalds. They liked the play area.

After breakfast, we continued our trek through the Carolinas, and ended our day in Brunswick, GA.

A few driving photos:

Sara taking a turn

Luke watching something on DVD

and Makayla taking it all in

We stayed at a Hampton Inn for the night, and had dinner at a Toucan Ale House. It was right by the hotel and made for an easy dinner. We don't have them in Pennsylvania, but it reminded me of an Applebee's.

Luke enjoying his meal.

Sara and Makayla

Time for a selfie (or groupie) Not sure what the cool kids are calling it these days. Obviously forgot to wipe Luke's mouth first.

Makayla didn't eat a lot for dinner (which is completely unlike her), and we noticed that she had a bit of a fever. We hoped it was just due to a long day in the car and gave her some children's Tylenol. It was time for some sleep and then we'd finish the drive to WDW the next day.

 

[Lyear]

Since we had gotten in so late for our nap, we let the kids, and us, sleep a little later. The result was that we didn't get up and out the door until about 5:30. A quick picture of our window art. Sara found this at a dollar store. It seemed to sum up how we were feeling each day of our vacation.

We made it to MK around 6. This was a Christmas party night, and we did not have tickets for it. The Christmas party sounds like it would be a great time, but keeping the kids up until 12 is a deal breaker. I feel like if we're going to pay to go, we'd have to stay the full time to get our money's worth. And that just isn't happening with 2 young kids.

We deliberately picked the Christmas party days to go to Magic Kingdom because we figured that with the 7pm closing, the park would be less crowded through the day. Were we right? It's hard to say. I've said before that the crowds during this time were unlike any I had seen before. No matter how much planning we put into it, we were still going to run into a lot of people.

So why would we go back into MK for only 1 hour before getting kicked out? We had dinner reservations at Tony's. As we entered the park, Sara took a quick photo of the train station.

We walked around a bit, then made our way to the restaurant. This is another one Sara and I have eaten at each time we have visited. While we waited for our table, Luke became instantly glued to the TV watching Lady and the Tramp. It was tough to pull him away when the called our name, and he was a little bit pouty throughout the meal.

We were seated in the main, indoor room. Luke began checking out his menu.

While Makayla practiced the fine art of throwing things on the floor.

And Sara was happy to be here.

We brought a few toys along, but Luke eventually decided he wanted to play angry birds, which at least kept him entertained. As for food, I ordered the Pasta Primavera, Sara had the margarita pizza, and Luke got the grilled cheese dippers. Sorry no pics.

Luke was not that interested in eating. At least Lightning and Mater were able to find a place to race.

I honestly don't remember too much about this meal. I remember thinking that my pasta tasted good, and that our server did a really good job. But Luke and Makayla both seemed very high energy tonight. Between trying to make sure that Luke stayed at the table, and Makayla trying to grab everything within reach, our meal seemed to go very quickly.

After dinner, we let Luke watch a little more of Lady and the Tramp before heading out to the bus. Luke was definitely full of energy when we arrived. You can hear our calls to please watch out for other people as he prances through the hall.



Once outside, they were showing Oliver and Company by the main pool, so we watched that for a bit, then turned in for the night. Tomorrow was a first for us, a relax, hang by the pool day.

 

[Lyear]

I almost forgot a very important part of our Magic Kingdom day. That morning, we got the meet the COOLEST superhero in the gamma quadrant - Buzz Lightyear!!!

We saw him while on the people mover, and he didn't have much of a line. Luke liked seeing him, but as we got up close he changed his mind and wasn't interested in meeting him. Makayla actually didn't mind. I meanwhile was completely star struck. I mean, Buzz is so AWESOME

Hey you, don't you want to meet me???

 

[MinnieM123]

Really like that nighttime photo of the train station all decked out in Christmas lights. The video of Luke was amusing, and I wish I had his energy! You and Sara have been busy watching the two little ones. Looks like the whole family is enjoying the vacation, and thanks for sharing the pictures and comments.

 

[Lyear]

Really like that nighttime photo of the train station all decked out in Christmas lights. The video of Luke was amusing, and I wish I had his energy! You and Sara have been busy watching the two little ones. Looks like the whole family is enjoying the vacation, and thanks for sharing the pictures and comments.

Thanks. I'll have to make sure Sara knows you like it since that was her pic. They really do a good job of decorating for the holiday. Yes Luke is all energy all the time. A lot of times its fun, but it has its challenges too.

 

[Lyear]

Since we were going to Disney with kids for the first time, and since our kids have been known to exhaust us, we figured it was best to plan a relax day. A day to just hang out. On past trips, Sara and I had always been on the go. It's one of the reasons we vacation well together. We both like to be on the go and do lots of stuff while we're on vacation. While that undoubtedly led to some great memories and fun times, I'd always find myself, after our trip, lamenting that we didn't have time to swim, or just enjoy the hotel. This time we were going to change that.

We didn't have an alarm set, but we still were waking up and moving by 6:30. My day started by sorting laundry. Another change for us was that we were going to use the laundry facilities while we were here. While Sara got the kids ready for the pool, I took the laundry to the laundry room. Doesn't it look so welcoming?

I read through the instructions a few times, but still managed to wash the cold wash clothes in warm water . I realized my mistake as soon as it started, but there wasn't an off switch, or cancel button. I went to the pay kiosk, and found steps to cancel the load and reimburse the credit card. I walked through these, but the machine wouldn't stop. It was either a machine problem or operator error, and I fully admit it was likely the latter. I ended up calling an 800# I found by the payment kiosk. After a long hold, I spoke to a representative from the laundry service company who had no idea where I was and kept asking for my zip code. Ummm, I don't know, I'm on vacation and not sending mail to myself . At this point over half the cycle was done, so I figured whatever damage was going to be done was already done and disconnected the call. Thankfully, I'm happy to report no clothes were shrunk or otherwise damaged. Bullet successfully dodged.

Once I disconnected the call, I walked outside to meet up with Sara and the kids, who had made their way to the All Star Music Piano pool. Luke really wanted to swim at the piano pool instead of the main, guitar pool. The guitar pool had water squirters, and Luke was afraid of getting squirted.

The piano pool had plenty of beach balls, and we spent some time throwing them back and forth, and Luke and Makayla had some other water toys they were playing with. We spent about 45 minutes to an hour at the pool. Then we decided to go check out the main pool. we packed up our things and headed over. Makayla really enjoyed the kiddie pool.

Luke got a pair of Jake and the Neverland Pirates goggles over the summer, and insists on wearing these when he swims. It led to some interesting times when we had swim lessons and they wouldn't let him wear them. No such rules in Disney World though.

After some time in the kiddie pool, I convinced Luke to brave the big one.

At the "hole" of the guitar is where the 3 caballeros stand. They each take turns shooting water into the pool. Luke wanted nothing to do with it. He didn't want to get wet! But I was able to use my superior timing to navigate the turbulent, shooting water and keep us "dry"

Kiwi decided to use this time to sunbathe

Once Luke and I made our way out of the pool. We decided to go back to the room and give the kids baths. I thought at the time we'd probably come back and swim some more another day, but as you might expect we were busy and that didn't happen.

We had a good morning hanging out by the pools. It was fun to do something a little different. The pools themselves were very well themed and clean. They weren't very crowded, I'm going to chalk that up to the fact it was November.

 

[Lyear]

After giving the kids baths and changing clothes, it still wasn't quite lunch time yet. We decided to check out the playground. Luke was a fan.

I thought it was strange that they had sand at the playground, but I guess there's a requirement that they need to have something soft under the equipment, and Florida has plenty of sand. While Luke and Makayla were playing, Sara stayed there and I went to grab our clothes from the dryers. The plan was to meet them back at the playground, so I was surprised when I opened the door to our room to find everyone there. Apparently Luke had a potty accident. Still something we're working through. We put the clothes away quickly and headed to the main building for lunch.

I read they had recently re-done the food court at ASM, and I have to say I approve. It was wide open, well lit, and it was clear what they served at each station. The seating area was wide open and again, very clean. Every couple of booths they would have opaque glass artwork of Mickey and friends playing different genres of music. It was a nice touch, and I wish I would have thought to take a photo or two.

Sara and I were both in the mood for pizza, and Luke wanted Macaroni and cheese. I think he would eat this every day if he could. Sara got a cupcake for dessert, and I got a voucher for ice cream. The dining area was not crowded at all. The below photo was taken about 12:00. A TV in the corner was playing classic Mickey cartoons. I think Luke spent more time watching this than eating. This photo shows him actually eating.

Makayla enjoying some Mac and Cheese - she was certainly back to normal at this point. Ear infection? What ear infection?

And of course you KNOW I'm going to take a picture of Sara with a mouth full of food. I'm lucky she likes me.

After I was done, I walked back to the food court area to get my ice cream. I got some Mickey head sprinkles on it and shared it with Luke and Makayla. Luke thought Mickey head sprinkles were the coolest thing ever!

So it had been a good and relaxing morning. We headed back for our nap. That night would be our trip to the NEW Disney Springs.

 

[Lyear]

One of my biggest fears on this trip was Luke getting away from us and getting lost. The kid is so fast. I can beat him in a straight line race, barely, but he's small, so he can maneuver in tight spaces much better than I can. Add this to the fact that Luke loves to randomly play hide and seek without telling anyone, and you can understand my fear. I'm sure every parent thinks this way, and thankfully nothing remotely close to this happened on this trip. Sara and I were being cautious about it. We took pictures of our kids everyday so we knew what they were wearing, and we wrote our phone numbers on the inside of their magic bands.

I bring this up now because going to Disney Springs was what I was most concerned about. In the parks, there's always nearby cast members that you know will help out. In Disney Springs, there's just a lot of people. People who are focused on their particular goals for the night. People that, in my experience, will not think twice about cutting between a family while walking if it will get them to where they need to go quicker. I made sure to tell Luke before we left that it was very important that he stay with us at all times. He sort of did a good job of this. You know, for a four year old.

We decided to drive to Disney Springs. Everything I had read told me not to do this. I had read countless trip reports, websites, etc that talked about people being stuck in traffic for hours trying to get there. But Sara had just about had it with taking the bus with two children, so she enthusiastically persuaded me that driving was the right call.

Ended up - it was the right call. Other than hitting a few red lights, there were no stops. The signs were all clear about where we needed to go, and the parking garage made parking a breeze. I had actually watched the video they posted on the main page of this site when they opened the ramp that goes directly into the parking garage, and it being a big help. Once inside and parked, we exited to the West Side of Disney Springs.

The place had a lot of energy. It was more than just a lot of people walking around shopping, though Sara thinks there are plenty of good reasons to get excited about that. There was music playing and groups of people chatting and laughing. Definitely a fun atmosphere. We walked around the West Side for a bit, then made our way to dinner.

Our dinner reservations tonight were at Paradiso 37. The restaurant really wasn't on our radar as we began preparations for our trip. As we planned, we decided that we'd do a whole Disney Springs evening, including dinner. I immediately began thinking of restaurants like T Rex and Portobello's, but Sara found Paradiso 37. We looked at the menu, and since we both love Hispanic food we decided to go for it. We got there a bit early, so we took some photos.

Interesting Christmas tree.

Luke loved the fact that these cars go into the water, and they have duckies on the dashboard.

Morimoto Asia. I really hope they put this place on the dining plan

 

[Lyear]

As soon as we arrived at the restaurant, we were seated immediately and shortly had drinks. Paradiso 37 seemed to be a place I would have really enjoyed during my college years. There was loud music playing (and I'm not saying that in an old person, "Turn that music down" way). The restaurant was open to the people passing by outside, and they had a very intricate bar. Overall it was a very vibrant place.

The restaurant had about 3 levels to it, and also had an outdoor seating area. We had our reservations at 5:30, and the place was fairly empty. We walked past later before we left for the night and it was much more crowded. I guess most people eat later than us. Waiting for our food...

Luke decided he wanted Mac and Cheese. This kid would eat nothing but mac and cheese if we left him. Interesting fry container. I have no idea what he's looking for under the table in this shot.

Sara got the black bean burger with fries.

And I got a vegetarian burrito.

The result... This was my favorite meal of the entire trip. The veggie burrito was outrageously good. I didn't want it to end. I also got their P37 beer, which I thought was good as well. At the other end of the spectrum, this was Sara's least favorite meal of our trip. She didn't like the way the black bean burger was done. But the fries were ok.

So we were split. I honestly don't know if or when we'll go back. If it were up to me we'd be going on our next trip. But with so many restaurants going in at Disney Springs, there's going to be a lot of new places to try out. The good news is that both kids were relatively well behaved tonight. It was a good family outing. After finalizing our check, we headed out and made our way to the marketplace.

 

[Lyear]

This is grumpy Luke (and a little bit of my finger ). He has thrown himself down in the stroller, dragging his feet behind it, and refusing to make eye contact. How did we get to this point? Let me explain.

Shortly after leaving Paradiso 37, we found ourselves in the World of Disney. Much to my chagrin. I would have been very happy to wait outside while Sara did the shopping, but she values my opinion. Apparently my saying "That's fine" to everything she holds up means a lot to her . Our rule for Luke inside the store was "stay in the stroller." The place was as crowded as you might imagine, and there's so many breakable objects that we decided this would be the best and safest place for him. Not 3 seconds into the store...it began. "I want that, I want that, I want that." That's what we get for taking a kid into a toy store.

I did my best to remind him of all the things we had already gotten him during the trip, but they were all worthless now. At one point he decided he must have the new orange and white droid from star wars. He has never seen any star wars movie, and had no idea who this thing was (I still don't know to this day, but I'm sure I'll find out soon!!!), but he absolutely had to have this stuffed animal. After I said no for about the 7th time, the above scene happened. And me, like the good dad I was, made sure to take a picture .

I was thankful that Sara had a list of what we needed already made up, because it made our time in that store as short as it could have been. We ended up getting Luke a Rapunzel magnet, because it would just be cruel to take a kid into a huge toy store and not get him anything.

After WOD, we hit a few more stores, and got our Christmas ornament for this year. We then asked Luke if he wanted to play in the fountain, and he did. We had brought clothes along for this occasion, so we changed his clothes and headed towards it. Once we got there, Luke decided that it was too wet and wouldn't go in it.

Probably all for the best. The ground around the fountain is actually super slippery. While we were there we saw two kids completely wipe out and end up in tears. After a bit, we were at least willing to test the water.

And Makayla is never one to miss a party.

Shopping bags in hand, we made our way back to the car. Tomorrow we were going to be at the Magic Kingdom early, ready for Makayla's first haircut.

 

[Lyear]

Thursday was another Magic Kingdom morning. We were out the door and made it to the bag check line to see the welcome show. That was an interesting experience. Everyone in trying to duck their heads down to see the show under the awning, while family members decide to leave one person (usually the dad) with the bags while they run the kids through the bagless entrance to see the show. We of course had seen it two days ago so it wasn't a big deal. We noticed Luke had once again drank his entire mug of lemonade on the way here, so we took a quick bathroom stop, and then it was off to adventureland.

Our plan was to hit the magic carpets, then Jungle Cruise. There was no line for anything since it was so early in the morning. And then Luke saw the Swiss Family Treehouse. "I want to do THAT," he says with a sense of wonder. "Luke, it's just a walk through, it's not a ride," we both say. He responds, "But want to DO it." So this is how we're going to use this precious time of lines, walking through the treehouse. Sara decides she will take him while I wait with Makayla.

After about 5 minutes they return. I was about to say "what do you want to do now?," but Luke was already saying he wanted to take me through the treehouse. Really??? When there's no lines? But he had loved the treehouse and wanted to make sure I got to see it. And I must say, he was ridiculously cute going through it.

We came to the first room and he explains "this is where they eat," and the next room, "and this is where they sleep." When we got to the third room, he couldn't remember what it was for, so he just said "and sometimes they would come here." Luke was clearly filled with a sense of awe that people could live in a tree. It was fun seeing him experience it. The treehouse had always just been there before to me. I never saw it as something worth doing. But here Luke was loving it.

As we exited, Luke turns around and says to me, "I think I peed a little bit." Oh the joys of potty training. We run to the bathroom and sure enough, he had, so we chang his pants and we're on our way to the next ride, the flying carpets.

Luke and Sara grabbed a front seat, while Makayla and I found ourselves in the back.

By the way, did I mention that Makayla was the most adorable, blonde Snow White ever today?

I had my video camera, and took a video of our ride.


We ended up doing it twice since it was such a big hit. Afterwards we hit Jingle Cruise, which wasn't that much of a hit. Makayla just wanted to roam around the boat, and Luke really wasn't all that interested either. After Jungle Cruise, we decided on a potty break. Luke was adamant that he didn't need to go, screaming all the way into the bathroom...as he peed his pants . At this point we were both frustrated. We clean him up, and since we have haircuts in about a half hour, we decide we're just going to head up towards the barber shop. Luke was very upset that we weren't going on more rides, and became a grump for the next hour or so.

 

[Lyear]

One of the goals Sara had coming into this trip was get Makayla's first haircut at Disney World. We booked a barbershop appointment for them both about a week after we had made our trip reservation. Now it was the time to experience it. After making our way up to the front, I went inside and checked in. The barber shop itself was pretty tight, and also pretty crowded. I checked in quickly then made my way outside to find some space to breath .

So we waited outside, with a good number of other families.

Kiwi practicing her walking.

And Luke, not wanting to talk to anyone.

While we waited, we happened to see our friends from York, PA walking by. We knew they were going to be in WDW, but had no clue we'd see them today. They were actually trying to make a haircut appointment for their daughter as well. They were lucky enough to get one in about a half hour.

Shortly after this, they called for Makayla. We were going to have Barbara the barber today. She got Makayla up in the seat. After a brief discussion of what type of haircut Sara was looking for, she began.


You can get a sense from the video how loud and crowded it was in the barber shop. And of course at the end you get the first haircut ears. What do you think Kiwi?

Then it was Luke's turn.


He remained a bit of a grump, but he liked holding the spinning mickey. They gave him some gel for his hair, and he liked that. A pic from later in our day.

Overall, I'd call the barbershop experience efficient. It would be nice to go sometime when they weren't so crowded, if that exists. It just seemed like they were trying to get us in and out as quickly as possible. It's not that they did a bad job, just that the whole thing felt so rushed. The rushed nature of it sure seemed to take some of the magic away.

 

[Lyear]

After the haircuts, it was time to continue our day. We made the trek back down Main Street and into Adventureland. We began our journey by filling our stomachs with a Dole Whip. Luke and Kiwi both enjoyed it, and it was a welcome down time after what was a pretty hectic barbershop experience. Then we decided to do Pirates.

Luke was excited at first.

So was Kiwi, or maybe she just wanted the camera.

Luke got a bit scared as we pulled away from the loading area. It got dark, and there were some ominous sounds. Then we hit the cannonball battle, and he was very concerned that something would happen to our boat. After a little while, he did calm down and enjoy some of the town area. During the fire scene in the town, we explained to him that it wasn't real fire, just made to look like that. Then the rest of the day he was telling us that we hadn't seen real fire, just pretend fire .

After Pirates, and after the ordeal of getting Luke out of the gift shop without buying a pirate sword, we had some lunch at pecos bills. It was our first time here. Sara and I both had the veggie burrito, and Luke had, you guessed it, mac and cheese, which he shared with Makayla. We both agreed the food was really good, and the toppings bar they had was great. Lots of good stuff up there. While we were eating, a very friendly cast member came up and remarked how cute our kids were, and gave them free Mickey Straws. She was SO nice. One of my hopes going into this trip was that we'd have a cast member make our day. Well, she had succeeded. It wasn't so much that she gave us 70 cent mickey straws, but she went out of her way to have a conversation with us, and ask the kids what their favorite thing about Disney was. I think it's great when CM's can step away from their job duties and have real conversations with guests. I can't remember this CM's name, but this report would not be complete without at least mentioning her.

After lunch, we went to check out Splash Mountain. Sara had been hoping to take Luke on this ride, and we had a fastpass for it. But Luke watched it a bit and decided it wasn't for him. He was afraid of getting wet. Sara tried to persuade him, but he wasn't having it. We decided instead to check out the tiki room. Luke had high hopes going into this.

Sara had a CD of park music in her car in the months leading up to our trip. The Tiki Room, under new management, was one of Luke's favorite songs. We explained to him that the "angry bird" was not going to be part of the show anymore, but that it would still be a good show. I think Luke was thinking this would be a bit more than it was. He was a bit bored, and Makayla was once again trying to walk around. Sara and I really enjoyed the show though.

After finishing up our morning, we caught our bus back to the hotel. The bus driver noticed my birthday pin, and had the entire bus sing happy birthday to me. That was nice of him. Luke and Sara especially enjoyed it.

 

[MinnieM123]

Well, that was quite the day you all had! (I'm always amazed at the patience that parents have, when taking children on a trip.) It was amusing to read that there were easy walk-on lines for some of the popular rides (for a short window of time), and yet Luke wanted to climb the treehouse. Let me state that I also happen to love that iconic treehouse and am thrilled it is still there; however, it is something that one can go back to, after you take advantage of the shorter lines for the bigger attractions! I guess Luke didn't quite grasp that concept?

The haircut videos were so cute. I like how they give the kids a toy to play with while their hair is getting cut. I give credit to the stylists for being able to cut hair while a kid is squirming around in the seat--that takes talent! I was surprised to hear that it was so crowded in there. I've heard that the barber shop is popular, but didn't realize it was that popular. Wish your family could have had more time to enjoy the experience, but at least you got to take the kids there. I can only imagine that a number of people probably get turned away, due to the demand.

Makayla looked pretty in her Snow White costume!

I found the Magic Carpets video interesting in terms of the actual length--about 1 minute, 24 seconds. Actually, I've never ridden that ride before. Yet, I know that when you're waiting for a ride, it always seems like an eternity, even though the Carpets ride was less than 1 and a half minutes in duration. (My guess is most rides in the parks probably fall somewhat within that time frame.)

 

[fractal]

Love the Tree-House! Funny potty-training moment and awesome that you took them to the Barber shop. Still on my "to do" list.

 

[Lyear]

Well, that was quite the day you all had! (I'm always amazed at the patience that parents have, when taking children on a trip.) It was amusing to read that there were easy walk-on lines for some of the popular rides (for a short window of time), and yet Luke wanted to climb the treehouse. Let me state that I also happen to love that iconic treehouse and am thrilled it is still there; however, it is something that one can go back to, after you take advantage of the shorter lines for the bigger attractions! I guess Luke didn't quite grasp that concept?

The haircut videos were so cute. I like how they give the kids a toy to play with while their hair is getting cut. I give credit to the stylists for being able to cut hair while a kid is squirming around in the seat--that takes talent! I was surprised to hear that it was so crowded in there. I've heard that the barber shop is popular, but didn't realize it was that popular. Wish your family could have had more time to enjoy the experience, but at least you got to take the kids there. I can only imagine that a number of people probably get turned away, due to the demand.

Makayla looked pretty in her Snow White costume!

I found the Magic Carpets video interesting in terms of the actual length--about 1 minute, 24 seconds. Actually, I've never ridden that ride before. Yet, I know that when you're waiting for a ride, it always seems like an eternity, even though the Carpets ride was less than 1 and a half minutes in duration. (My guess is most rides in the parks probably fall somewhat within that time frame.)

Thanks. I certainly don't feel like I'm a patient parent a lot of times. It seems I'm always looking back thinking I could have handled that better. Luckily I know from talking with friends who also have children that it's a common thought. Having kids has been great in so many ways, yet sometimes it truly is so frustrating. The barbershop did a good job and I'm really glad I got both on video. We'll probably go back next visit. When we booked the appointments, they were a half hour each. But we were in and out within 20 minutes total. I guess with the appointment length I was just expecting more.

And yes, I did notice how short the flying carpets ride was as I uploaded it. I can say that when we were on it, it didn't seem overly short. There's some rides where you get off and are like, "that's it?" This wasn't one of them. But when you look back and see, it was only a minute, 24 seconds?, it does seem like it's short.

Love the Tree-House! Funny potty-training moment and awesome that you took them to the Barber shop. Still on my "to do" list.

The tree house now has a special place in my heart. Before this trip I didn't care much about it, but now we have such an awesome story that goes along with it. Hope you can make it to the barber shop soon.

 

[Lyear]

Our plans this evening were to visit Epcot, with a dinner reservation at Via Napoli. We had been taking naps everyday, but I could still tell both our kids were becoming exhausted. Each day throughout our trip it became harder and harder to wake them up, in the morning and after nap. This day especially it took Luke a long time to get moving.

We decided to drive to Epcot since it was so much more convenient with the stroller, bags, and 2 kids. There were a lot of cars that had already left since it was around 5pm, so we got a pretty close spot. As we entered the park, Luke remarked, "I want to do the Epcot ride." Of course he's talking about Spaceship earth. Sure thing. Our plan was to see some of World Showcase tonight, but we can start here.
A quick photo of me. I promise you Kiwi is in there with me as well.

For fun, I let Makayla answer the touch screen questions during our descent. Wouldn't you know that in the story she selected I ended up breaking my arm in a skiing accident? I really hope that wasn't intentional. Kiwi did really like playing with the touchscreen.

After SSE, we decided to hit Club Cool. And of course, being the kind, loving parents we are, we had Luke try the Beverly .

He wasn't a fan. He did like the melon drink thought. After our bellies were full of soda, we headed to Canada. As we parked the stroller, I noticed another one beside mine with a rain cover on. I decided to put ours on as well. Good decision. As we exited this ride it was pouring!

Luke liked the waterfall in the Canada pavilion. He was actually drawn in by the video too. He really liked the scenes shot from a helicopter. A quick check of the time after the show and we saw that our dinner reservations were in two minutes. We quickly loaded up the kids and made our way to Via Napoli. Sara took a quick shot of the Epcot Christmas tree on our way.

 

[Lyear]

Via Napoli was a return visit for us on this trip. Sara and I had gone on our last trip. To be honest, it was my least favorite meal then. Sara enjoyed it though and wanted to go again. I chalked my bad experience up to the fact that we had eaten a late lunch that day and I had arrived practically stuffed. I was willing to give it another go.

We ended up checking in about 20 minutes after our reservation time, but this wasn't an issue. The place was pretty crowded, but we were seated after about a 10 minute wait. We had excellent seats, right in front of the awesome face ovens.

I feel like I could have watched the pizzas cook in these ovens the rest of the night. There's just something about seeing the fire lapping up towards the pizza. Luke asked for angry birds, so he was content as we waited for food. Makayla had a good time with her menu and crayons. She's not quite old enough to color yet, but she enjoys hitting the crayons against the paper.

Our server came quickly and took our drink orders. Then there was a bit of a delay. I didn't see it, but Sara said there a table about 2 away from us that had some type of billing dispute with our server, and they ended up calling two managers over to their table. After he came back with our drinks, he was very apologetic for the wait. If he really had just had a dispute with a customer, it didn't reflect at all in his demeanor. He was very courteous throughout the evening. I could probably learn a lot from him when it comes to dealing with customers for my job.

For our meals, I ordered a white, artichoke pizza (the name is escaping me right now), and Sara had a margharita pizza. Luke decided to pass on the mac and cheese tonight and have a cheese pizza as well. As we waited for our food, Makayla was very focused on her coloring sheet.

And Luke remained focused on his game.

With both the kids occupied, Sara took a few photos of our surroundings.

When the food came, it was exquisite. The artichoke pizza was so good. Other than sharing a bite with Sara, I ate the whole thing in a matter of minutes. Luke ate very good as well, and Makayla had some from each of our plates. On our last trip I thought the food here was so-so, but tonight it was perfect. For dessert, Luke and I each got gelato. I got the lemon gelato, which was pretty sour but still very tasty. Sara got the fried dough balls that you dip (sorry, I'm horrible when it comes to putting names to orders). And halfway through our dessert, our server, with a few of his friends, came out to sing happy birthday to me. Luke loved this part.

So our experience at Via Napoli this time was very, very good. Now I can't wait to go back on our next trip. Just thinking about that artichoke pizza is making my mouth water.

 

[Lyear]

We left Via Napoli in the middle of Illuminations, and in the middle of a pretty hard rainfall. Sara and I got our ponchos on, and Luke and Makayla were under the stroller cover. We headed towards France. Going into this trip, we had a lot of things we wanted to do around World Showcase. However, outside of seeing Mexico on our first day, tonight was the extent of our world showcase experience. Wearing ponchos, in the rain, walking past the countries in the dark. World Showcase is so amazing, it makes me sad that this was how we were seeing it this trip.

When we made it to France, they were no longer showing their video, but the bakery remained open. We had amassed a good stockpile of snack credits, so we unloaded a few of them here. Future world was having extra magic hours tonight. We knew it was late, but we also had so much that we wanted to do. We started by going to Figment. Sara loves figment, so she couldn't wait for Luke to experience the ride. On the way, he had a few words for the upward flowing waterfall in front of the pavilion. "Water, you should be flowing down, not up!." We decided the water was just silly, and there was nothing we could do about it.

The figment ride didn't elicit much of a response, but Luke loved the play area afterwards. There were a few other kids around, and he was joining in with them in the section where you jump on top of an instrument square and hear it playing. They all really enjoyed that part.
This one was also a hit.

I'd say we spent about 15-20 minutes in the play area. We eventually pulled him away, and he asked if he could go on the Epcot ride again. We decided since it was on our way out we'd do it.

Luke was enamored with how the sidewalk lit up.

And Sara decided to get artsy with a puddle shot.

Say cheese

Kiwi was happy to go on SSE again

I let Makayla use the touchscreen again, and wouldn't you know I ended up breaking my arm again in a skiing accident??? This girl has it out for me.

After our ride, there weren't a lot of people in the post ride area, so Luke got to play a game! Yay!!! He decided he wanted to do a driving game. I can't remember the whole premise of the game, but there was a black car you had to beat, and different obstacles to overcome. Luke ended up passing the black car at the very end of the game. And that just completely made his night. The rest of the night he was telling us over and over how he passed the black car and won the race. When you plan out your trip, you don't think that a post ride game in SSE is going to be what your kid remembers, but this was definitely a highlight of Luke's trip, and one of my favorite memories of mine.

When we finally reached our car and drove back to ASM, it was 11:00. Just a bit past their bedtime. We quickly laid them down and fell asleep ourselves. Tomorrow we had a breakfast reservation at Chef Mickey's.

 

[Lyear]

The next day, Friday, was a late start. We had gotten in so late from Epcot the night before, and we didn't have anything scheduled before a 10:00 Chef Mickey's reservation. We took our time getting up, and were eventually out the door by about 8:45. We took the bus to MK, then caught the monorail to contemporary. Luke had seen the monorail going several times, so he was excited to finally get to ride it.

Once we got off the monorail in the Contemporary, we were quick lead to the 4th floor elevator by a cast member. We arrived a good bit early, probably around 9:40. You know you're early when the CM tells you, "You know you're not scheduled for a few minutes right?" Chef Mickey's was extremely busy, so they told us up front it would be a while. They ended up calling us around 10:15. So we found some empty seats in the lobby, and waited.

Unfortunately we would soon have a run-in with Contemporary Security, because it's just like our family to cause a disturbance . It all started with a jumping game. One of Luke's and Makayla's favorite things to do is to jump with me, where I will take them and lift them up in the air. This has evolved to a game of jumping, spinning, dancing, etc. Since we had some time to kill, we found an open area and the kids were taking turns jumping. I had put my backpack on the ground to allow the dexterity needed for lifting two kids repeatedly.

When our game was complete (also read as - my out of shape body couldn't take any more), we went back to join Sara at the seats, and I totally forgot I had put my bag down . All of a sudden, Sara taps me and says in a panicked tone - "they're taking your bag, they're taking your bag." I quickly looked up. It took me a while to spot it, but sure enough there was a security guard who had picked up my backpack and was proceeding to walk away with it. I ran up to her and explained that it was my bag.

She said to me that once they get a call about an unattended bag, they are supposed to take it to their security station. I quickly gave her my Bambi eyes and explained my situation. She either felt bad for me or didn't want to hear it, because she agreed she'd just look through the bag, take down my contact info, and then give it back to me. Crisis averted, though somewhere I'm probably now coded as a security threat in the Contemporary resort.

Bag secured, I made my way back to the family. Luke had a million questions about what just happened, but before we could get into it, our pager buzzed, and we were on our way to be seated.

 

[Lyear]

We lucked into another good seat at Chef Mickey's, close to the buffet, and right in a main aisleway.

The kids were both sat on the same side to allow for easy photos. Once we got the drink orders in, Sara went to get the kids some food, and I stayed at the table.

Luke, like most kids, goes through phases of what he is interested in. Right now, he's nuts about PJ Masks, a new cartoon on Disney Jr. About 3 months ago, it was all Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, all the time. We were constantly scanning You Tube to find episodes, and buying DVD's as quickly as we could. When his birthday came up in August, it was no surprise when he wanted a Mickey birthday party. So we figured that eating breakfast with Mickey and friends on this trip would be a big hit. As we waited for Sara to come back with the food, Luke remarked that he only wanted to meet the boy characters. Well, ok, I thought. If he doesn't want to meet Minnie Mouse, not a huge deal, though Minnie might be sad. Turns out, Luke would be very selective about who he wanted to see.

First up was Goofy, Goofy passed the test.

Minnie...not so much

Yikes! Luke saw Minnie coming and ended up under the table, by Sara's feet. We assured him he didn't have to take his picture with Minnie if he didn't want to, but he still wanted nothing to do with her. Kiwi wasn't a fan either. She actually held it together without crying, but it was touch and go for most of Minnie's visit.

Next was Pluto, good ole' reliable Pluto. Of course he'll want to meet Pluto, right??? Nope! Not having it, back under the table. Pluto was trying to find him.

Kiwi LOVED pluto. I'm not sure if he reminded her of our cats at home or what, but she really liked reaching out and touching him, while still holding firmly to her milk.

After a brief dance party, Mickey was next to arrive. Surely, Luke would want to meet Mickey.

Eh, back under the table we go. At least Mickey made a game out of it by trying to find him. Kiwi liked Mickey too, so much that we couldn't get her to look at us for the picture.

Finally it was time for Donald. Luke liked Donald. So did Makayla.

Luke wanted to show Donald his hot dog dance. The characters do the hot dog dance at the end of every episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Luke always mimics Donald. So Donald watched as Luke started his dance, then Donald joined in with him. Luke was so excited to be doing his hot dog dance with Donald. Morning made right there.

It seems like an afterthought, but Chef Mickey's also had food. Good thing, being its a restaurant and all. Luke liked the oatmeal and yogurt, while Makayla probably ate 5 mini pancakes. Sara and I both got plenty to eat and agreed it was very good. They had sweet potato pancakes, which were a big hit. It was definitely a thumbs up experience. Just as we were packing up to leave, the characthers did one last dance, with Luke and Kiwi clapping along.

Following our breakfast, we made our way back to the monorail and over to MK. The ride was a bit slow due to issues with the monorail in front of ours. Makayla was already giving us the "are we there yet" stare. Soon enough Kiwi, we'll be there soon enough.