Epcot / Cirque Day
Can you believe it is already Wednesday? Man, this time is just flying by. Another beautiful day to start. The forecast is for rain later in the day, so we shall see. We get to the bus stop plenty early for our early entry day. Dum dee doo dee dummmm. The busses seem to be getting slower as the week progresses. What gives? Don’t they know that we have a PS in Norway that we cannot be late for???????? Oh, there is the bus now. We get to Epcot with time to spare and pick up our lovely double stroller. We wait for the countdown and I pilot my plastic sided race buggy through the masses. Most of the crowd peals off and heads toward Test Track and Mission Space. We continue on to Norway where we have an 8:30 PS for the Princess breakfast. Today is Sarah’s birthday. She turns 9 and gets to celebrate with the Princesses in Norway. We get seated right away, after we are announced as Princess Sarah and guests. Our server is Bjorn. Super nice guy with a very dry sense of humor. He offers a collection of juices or coffee; well the kids don’t want juice. Luckily, Bjorn offers up some chocolate milk – Score. Sarah receives a card from the restaurant signed by all the servers. Then our skillet comes in. Nice collection of breakfast foods; scrambled eggs, potato casserole, bacon, and sausage. All things my kids won’t touch. Luckily, Bjorn scores again with some Rice Crispy’s. The frugal side of me balks at a $12 breakfast of cold cereal but that is not why we are here. Almost on queue the Princesses begin their procession. First came Belle, then Jasmine. Snow White follows rather close to the others with Mulan in tow. Our final Princess is Sleeping Beauty. The kids got autographs and pics with each. My wife gave me looks every time I asked to get a picture by myself. Come on. How often does a guy get to hang with a group of beauties like this? I did talk her into getting into a picture with the girls and Sleeping Beauty. For her birthday, Sarah got an after breakfast cookie that she could paint with icing and the like. All in all, a great experience that we will not soon forget.
After that, our day was driven by the fact that we had to leave the park around 3:00 to get back to the resort and get prepared for our evening at Cirque. We headed back to Future World and proceeded to ride Spaceship Earth again. Like I said, the kids really enjoy this ride. From there, we got a FP for Test Track. Wow, it was roughly 10:00 and the FP was for 1:50 to 2:50. We begin to wonder how this will fit into our schedule. From there we headed over to the Living Seas. The kids enjoyed the trip to alpha base. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention, our Test Track FP had a bonus FP for Honey I Shrunk the Audience. We cur our trip to the ocean floor show and beat it over to Imagination! to catch the show. Have I mentioned that Lydia was getting a little gun shy on the 3-d shows? She is hesitant again, but the little trooper manages through. Another neat show that Sarah loved. At this time the World Showcase is opening up so we check our passports and begin our journey. Since we had already been in Mexico and Norway, we head straight to China. The ladies shop as I enjoy getting some pictures. I now know how to spell Lydia and Sarah in Chinese. How lucky for me. Next is Germany where Jeanne picks up a crystal Mickey for her collection. With the kids and my big bulky backpack, I choose not to venture in to the “Fragile, Everything Glass” store. We then stroll through Italy, stopping only for some pictures and some deep breaths of the wonderful smells. Next is the American Adventure. I failed to mention it earlier, but Sarah is wearing her birthday pin and has received Birthday wishes from nearly all the CM’s we came in contact with. Here in America, the Doorman CM (missed his name) saw Sarah’s pin and went into a back room and came back with an Epcot’s Birthday pin. What a nice surprise. The vocal group was just finishing up their set and we went in to see the show. I forgot how good the show was and how PC it is. From there, we grabbed and all-American meal and did some shopping at the cart for some more pins. The theater is set up for the Candlelight Processional – very nice. We then cut over to Japan, where the ladies do some more shopping while I enjoy the drum show. I take a quick peek at my watch and start questioning our chances of doing Test Track. We’ll see. The kid’s goal was to spend their Wednesday money in China and Japan – Mission Accomplished. While Sarah and Jeanne lag behind, Lydia and I head over to Morocco. I can’t convince her to try some food, so we continue on to France. I do not know if it was the picture of four of us walking at a quick pace or the fact that I had that “I really got to ______” look on my face, but the French surrendered the moment we crossed into their borders. I told them that we come in peace and took a couple of pictures. Our time was running short so we headed over to England. Jeanne did a bit more shopping and the kids and I headed over to Canada wear “Off Kilter” was just beginning their set. We grabbed a popcorn and caught some of the show. It was at this time that we made the decision to head back to the resort. Sarah (and I) was disappointed in not being able to ride Test Track, but we just ran out of time.
After getting cleaned up at the resort, we were off to Downtown Disney and our night out at Cirque. Our seats turned out to be super. Just right of center and about 10 rows from the stage. A great view. The whole family loved the show and it will go down as one of the definite highlights. We thought about trying to eat in the area, but a quick glance at my watch revealed that we had a chance to catch Illuminations. So, how do you get from Downtown Disney to Epcot quickly? We decide to catch a bus (just happens to be waiting to leave) to the Beach Club Resort. While on the bus, we notice it is starting to rain. We get out at the resort (NICE!!!) and book it over to the International Gateway in a steady drizzle. Thank God we are in Florida. I do not mind a rain when it is over 70 degrees, when it is only 40, however, is a different matter. Once in the park, we stop for a couple of Mickey umbrellas and some candy bars, hey, we haven’t eaten yet. We then find a pretty good spot to watch Illuminations just outside Canada. The rain is coming down pretty good now and the girls are complaining so I head over to the shop near the Christmas Tree and get some ponchos. The girls are now laughing and having a good time. The show is great, even in the rain, and we have a group of teens behind us giving there best oohs and ahhs. Another highlight of the trip. There was one of the Fireworks stations that had tipped a bit in the weather and was shooting its ‘stuff’ towards the crowd. Luckily, it all hit the water prior to reaching the ‘shore’. After the ride back to the resort, I went for some pizza from Old Port Royal Food Court and we called it a night.
Our final day at the Magic Kingdom is left on the schedule
Can you believe it is already Wednesday? Man, this time is just flying by. Another beautiful day to start. The forecast is for rain later in the day, so we shall see. We get to the bus stop plenty early for our early entry day. Dum dee doo dee dummmm. The busses seem to be getting slower as the week progresses. What gives? Don’t they know that we have a PS in Norway that we cannot be late for???????? Oh, there is the bus now. We get to Epcot with time to spare and pick up our lovely double stroller. We wait for the countdown and I pilot my plastic sided race buggy through the masses. Most of the crowd peals off and heads toward Test Track and Mission Space. We continue on to Norway where we have an 8:30 PS for the Princess breakfast. Today is Sarah’s birthday. She turns 9 and gets to celebrate with the Princesses in Norway. We get seated right away, after we are announced as Princess Sarah and guests. Our server is Bjorn. Super nice guy with a very dry sense of humor. He offers a collection of juices or coffee; well the kids don’t want juice. Luckily, Bjorn offers up some chocolate milk – Score. Sarah receives a card from the restaurant signed by all the servers. Then our skillet comes in. Nice collection of breakfast foods; scrambled eggs, potato casserole, bacon, and sausage. All things my kids won’t touch. Luckily, Bjorn scores again with some Rice Crispy’s. The frugal side of me balks at a $12 breakfast of cold cereal but that is not why we are here. Almost on queue the Princesses begin their procession. First came Belle, then Jasmine. Snow White follows rather close to the others with Mulan in tow. Our final Princess is Sleeping Beauty. The kids got autographs and pics with each. My wife gave me looks every time I asked to get a picture by myself. Come on. How often does a guy get to hang with a group of beauties like this? I did talk her into getting into a picture with the girls and Sleeping Beauty. For her birthday, Sarah got an after breakfast cookie that she could paint with icing and the like. All in all, a great experience that we will not soon forget.
After that, our day was driven by the fact that we had to leave the park around 3:00 to get back to the resort and get prepared for our evening at Cirque. We headed back to Future World and proceeded to ride Spaceship Earth again. Like I said, the kids really enjoy this ride. From there, we got a FP for Test Track. Wow, it was roughly 10:00 and the FP was for 1:50 to 2:50. We begin to wonder how this will fit into our schedule. From there we headed over to the Living Seas. The kids enjoyed the trip to alpha base. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention, our Test Track FP had a bonus FP for Honey I Shrunk the Audience. We cur our trip to the ocean floor show and beat it over to Imagination! to catch the show. Have I mentioned that Lydia was getting a little gun shy on the 3-d shows? She is hesitant again, but the little trooper manages through. Another neat show that Sarah loved. At this time the World Showcase is opening up so we check our passports and begin our journey. Since we had already been in Mexico and Norway, we head straight to China. The ladies shop as I enjoy getting some pictures. I now know how to spell Lydia and Sarah in Chinese. How lucky for me. Next is Germany where Jeanne picks up a crystal Mickey for her collection. With the kids and my big bulky backpack, I choose not to venture in to the “Fragile, Everything Glass” store. We then stroll through Italy, stopping only for some pictures and some deep breaths of the wonderful smells. Next is the American Adventure. I failed to mention it earlier, but Sarah is wearing her birthday pin and has received Birthday wishes from nearly all the CM’s we came in contact with. Here in America, the Doorman CM (missed his name) saw Sarah’s pin and went into a back room and came back with an Epcot’s Birthday pin. What a nice surprise. The vocal group was just finishing up their set and we went in to see the show. I forgot how good the show was and how PC it is. From there, we grabbed and all-American meal and did some shopping at the cart for some more pins. The theater is set up for the Candlelight Processional – very nice. We then cut over to Japan, where the ladies do some more shopping while I enjoy the drum show. I take a quick peek at my watch and start questioning our chances of doing Test Track. We’ll see. The kid’s goal was to spend their Wednesday money in China and Japan – Mission Accomplished. While Sarah and Jeanne lag behind, Lydia and I head over to Morocco. I can’t convince her to try some food, so we continue on to France. I do not know if it was the picture of four of us walking at a quick pace or the fact that I had that “I really got to ______” look on my face, but the French surrendered the moment we crossed into their borders. I told them that we come in peace and took a couple of pictures. Our time was running short so we headed over to England. Jeanne did a bit more shopping and the kids and I headed over to Canada wear “Off Kilter” was just beginning their set. We grabbed a popcorn and caught some of the show. It was at this time that we made the decision to head back to the resort. Sarah (and I) was disappointed in not being able to ride Test Track, but we just ran out of time.
After getting cleaned up at the resort, we were off to Downtown Disney and our night out at Cirque. Our seats turned out to be super. Just right of center and about 10 rows from the stage. A great view. The whole family loved the show and it will go down as one of the definite highlights. We thought about trying to eat in the area, but a quick glance at my watch revealed that we had a chance to catch Illuminations. So, how do you get from Downtown Disney to Epcot quickly? We decide to catch a bus (just happens to be waiting to leave) to the Beach Club Resort. While on the bus, we notice it is starting to rain. We get out at the resort (NICE!!!) and book it over to the International Gateway in a steady drizzle. Thank God we are in Florida. I do not mind a rain when it is over 70 degrees, when it is only 40, however, is a different matter. Once in the park, we stop for a couple of Mickey umbrellas and some candy bars, hey, we haven’t eaten yet. We then find a pretty good spot to watch Illuminations just outside Canada. The rain is coming down pretty good now and the girls are complaining so I head over to the shop near the Christmas Tree and get some ponchos. The girls are now laughing and having a good time. The show is great, even in the rain, and we have a group of teens behind us giving there best oohs and ahhs. Another highlight of the trip. There was one of the Fireworks stations that had tipped a bit in the weather and was shooting its ‘stuff’ towards the crowd. Luckily, it all hit the water prior to reaching the ‘shore’. After the ride back to the resort, I went for some pizza from Old Port Royal Food Court and we called it a night.
Our final day at the Magic Kingdom is left on the schedule
