Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me...a December 2012 TR

Welcome to my TR. Let me cover some of the basics first in case you haven't read my PTR. I am Amy, a 39 year old veterinarian. This trip was planned last minute (about 60 days out) and the dates were Dec. 9-14, 2012. We stayed at CBR in a pirate room. We being me, my mom, and my 4 (almost 5) year old son, Owen.

Our flight left Dayton at 11:16am. We arrived at the airport at 9:30am and quickly made it through security. We stopped at the coffee shop for some OJ and potato chips for Owen. He had already eaten a good breakfast before leaving home, I promise! We had a little time at the gate before we had to gate check our stroller and were able to check our carry-on luggage after attaching our DME tags to it.

We loaded on the plane and were quickly pulling away from the gate. Owen was so excited to be flying again.

We had an uneventful flight. The flight attendants were very playful that day. They had a prize available for the person with the oldest penny, they had Christmas trivia questions for the kids, and they had someone sing the Oscar Mayer song for a prize. It was enjoyable and helped pass the time.
We landed in Orlando a few minutes early, and quickly made our way to DME. We were shown to this line:

We waited about 10 minutes for our bus, which was a cruise line bus. Owen was excited to watch everything that was going on outside.

Then he just crashed.

A few pictures on the way to CBR:

And then we were there!

 

[TheMouseFan]

What a great day at DHS!! Except for the Goofy thing there are a lot of good memories!! Last time I was in DHS my son was too scared to go on the Tower. I should have been like you and went on by myself. Good for you!! Can't wait to read more.

Thanks for reading. It was a great day! The only other time I have been to DHS and not gotten on TOT was when we took the older two kids the first time and I was 5 months pregnant with Owen. I wasn't going to let being by myself keep me from riding, even though I would much rather go with someone else!

 

[CinderMama]

Looks like such a special trip! I got to take my daughter a couple years ago when she was 2. We went on a girls trip with my mom and 2 sisters. Her big brothers were a little jealous, but we did bring them souvenirs.

Your Owen is so cute, he looks like such a sweetheart! Can't wait to read more!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Looks like such a special trip! I got to take my daughter a couple years ago when she was 2. We went on a girls trip with my mom and 2 sisters. Her big brothers were a little jealous, but we did bring them souvenirs.

Your Owen is so cute, he looks like such a sweetheart! Can't wait to read more!

Thank you so much! It was a very special trip. Owen definitely had moments of missing the other two, but overall he really enjoyed all of the attention! A girls trip sounds like fun. In fact, my mom is already talking about when we can take just my daughter for her trip!! The other two certainly got their fair share of souvenirs.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

First off...that really bugs me that anyone would have anything to say about the number of pics you were taking. I mean really?

Looks like Jedi training was a blast! Love the pics with Darth Vader! Also good to see you had a good time at Sci Fi...it's on my list of places to try next time. That's really unfortunate with the whole Santa Goofy thing. I mean, it's hard enough being in those kinds of lines since they don't move quickly, but to be stalled out waiting forever. Ugh. Still looks like you guys had a fun day.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[TheMouseFan]

First off...that really bugs me that anyone would have anything to say about the number of pics you were taking. I mean really?

Looks like Jedi training was a blast! Love the pics with Darth Vader! Also good to see you had a good time at Sci Fi...it's on my list of places to try next time. That's really unfortunate with the whole Santa Goofy thing. I mean, it's hard enough being in those kinds of lines since they don't move quickly, but to be stalled out waiting forever. Ugh. Still looks like you guys had a fun day.

Can't wait to read more!

It didn't bother me the slightest bit. I just thought it was funny that they were even paying that much attention to me. I never once stopped the line to get a picture, so whatever!

The two older kids had a great experience last year with Jedi Training, so I was thrilled that Owen also had such a great experience.

That was my second time eating at Sci-Fi and I enjoyed my meal both times.

The Santa Goofy thing did stink, but I wasn't going to let it ruin what was otherwise an incredible day!

 

[KayFeb13]

I can't wait to read more. Thanks for sharing. Owen is adorable. Jedi training looked like fun

 

[TheMouseFan]

I can't wait to read more. Thanks for sharing. Owen is adorable. Jedi training looked like fun

Thanks for reading! I'm getting ready to start our Epcot day.

 

[TheMouseFan]

On to our Epcot day.
We were up early because Epcot had morning EMH today. The plan was to get there for rope drop and do Test Track and then head over and hopefully do Soarin' and grab FP for one of the two for later. We grabbed a quick bite in the room because we planned to get breakfast at Sunshine Seasons.
This is what we saw when we first arrived:

You could barely distinguish between Spaceship Earth and the fog!
Owen got antsy while we were in line and wanted his picture taken.

Then he just got silly!

More pics while waiting to get in:

Then we were in and headed to Test Track. I had to stop for a few pics on the way though!

When we got there, there was a sign saying it was closed until 11am. How could that be on an EMH day? I couldn't even get FP because the return time was during our lunch ADR. So we very quickly headed to:

and literally walked on! I grabbed FP for later before we rode. Then Owen wanted to ride:

I won't bore you all with my pics from this ride. I'll just share the one of the Santa cactus.

 

[TheMouseFan]

Next up was breakfast, but I wanted to be sure to get FP for Test Track, so I sent my mom and Owen to pick out breakfast while I ran across the park to get our FP. Once again, I had to stop for a few pics on the way back!

I finally made it back!

And this is what I found waiting for me:

Yum!! Not as yummy as the cupcake at DHS, but still a pretty sweet treat for breakfast!
By then, it was time to use our FP. Owen said he didn't want to ride again. I asked numerous times and explained that if we didn't ride it now, we wouldn't get to ride it again. He vehemently said he did not want to ride again, so I gave our FP to a group of 3 who happened to be passing by us. Wouldn't you know it, later in the day Owen was asking to ride Soarin' again! Luckily, he didn't have a meltdown when I explained that we couldn't!
Then outside for another silly Owen pic.

Then we made our way over to ride Figment.

This ended up being one of Owen's favorite rides.

 

[TheMouseFan]

Last year the kids really enjoyed the jumping fountains, so we made sure to see them again this year.

Then we headed to Nemo.

This was one of Owen's favorite rides last year, so I was kind of surprised when he didn't ask to ride it more than once this trip!
Owen's next request was Spaceship Earth. Pics on the way:

I'm not sure what's up with his sunglasses. He can never seem to keep them on his face straight!

This ended up being the first of three rides on SSE for Owen this day.

 

[KayFeb13]

I am taking my daughters ages 2 and 5 in February. It's a first trip for them and I wasn't sure if there would be enough for them to do at Epcot. I am glad I looked over your Epcot pictures because I now think they will enjoy it more than I expected

 

[plaz10]

Great TR! I love that Owen loved SSE. That must mean he's a smart kid!

 

[TheMouseFan]

I am taking my daughters ages 2 and 5 in February. It's a first trip for them and I wasn't sure if there would be enough for them to do at Epcot. I am glad I looked over your Epcot pictures because I now think they will enjoy it more than I expected

Thanks for reading! I was worried last year about whether mine(8,6,and 3 at the time) would enjoy it, and they ended up asking to go back for a second day! Along with Nemo, Figment, and Living with the Land, they may enjoy Gran Fiesta Tour inside the Mexico pavilion, and a walk through Innoventions is always in order to see if anything catches their eye! Hope you have a great trip!

Great TR! I love that Owen loved SSE. That must mean he's a smart kid!

Thanks! I thought about you when I was writing this section of the TR!

 

[Steve-B]

"mine ..................... mine ................... mine"

oh - maybe not.

 

[mickey2008.1]

great pics! Looked like you all had a great time. Christmas time is so much fun down there.

 

[TheMouseFan]

"mine ..................... mine ................... mine"

oh - maybe not.

Yeah...not quite!

 

[TheMouseFan]

great pics! Looked like you all had a great time. Christmas time is so much fun down there.

Thanks! We had a wonderful time. The Christmas decorations were incredible. Unfortunately, we didn't even get to see a lot of the resorts all decked out. Oh well, next time!!

 

[TheMouseFan]

After ride #1 on SSE, we had to hurry over to World Showcase for our lunch ADR. I got a few pics on our way over to Friendship Landing to catch a ferry to Germany.

And one while we were on the ferry:

I couldn't resist getting one of my absolute favorite ride!!
Then a brisk walk over to Italy for lunch at:

Owen had spaghetti and meatballs.

My mom and I split a pepperoni pizza. It was delicious.

We had a wonderful waitress named Giulia. She really engaged Owen and kept him entertained. She brought him a special dessert for his birthday. Too bad he didn't much care for it, but the thought was nice!

Then a few pics of the Christmas decorations in Italy.

A quick peek at SSE.

 

[TheMouseFan]

Then a quick trip through Germany on our way back to Future World.

They even had the village in the train set all decked out for Christmas!

I wanted to stop here and try some caramel corn, but the line was long and we needed to get back to use our FP for Test Track. Maybe next time!

The storyteller was not out, but Owen was fascinated by the giant nutcracker.

We watched the storyteller from China for a few moments.

Then on to Norway for some more Christmas decorations.

We noticed that Donald was out as we passed through Mexico and had to stop.

Here he is discussing with Owen how old he will be on his birthday. Unfortunately, most of the characters only have 4 fingers and had difficulty counting to 5 for Owen! He really enjoyed these interactions.

Once again, the storyteller wasn't out, but I liked the stage.

We of course had to pop inside to ride:

Owen was excited to ride this one!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Then it was back to Future World for Test Track.

We really enjoyed the new version. Of course, we enjoyed the old version also! Owen really didn't care about designing his own car, but I could see my 10 year old and my husband really enjoying that aspect!
Next we went to Innoventions to get our Disney Visa photo taken.

On the way out, Owen wanted to stop and see the presentation by firefighters Marguerite and Dave.

Here he is demonstrating the new correct way to stop, drop, and roll. You are now instructed to cover your face before you start rolling.

Then we headed to the front of the park for Owen to ride SSE again. My mom took him to do that while I picked out our photo from our Disney Visa photo shoot. It then started to rain, so we decided to take a monorail ride to give Owen some downtime. Unfortunately, when we got outside the turnstiles, we realized that the monorail was down. So we sat under some shelter and relaxed while Owen had a little snack. I couldn't help myself from getting a pic of this sign.