 |
| EPCOT day, plus swimming & a bit of Magic Kingdom! |
We all slept very well last night. Reagan stayed in Nonna and Pops’ room. Anderson was in his sleeping bag and moved half way across the room but he never came out of his sleeping bag. Once Campbell went to sleep, we never heard a peep out of her and Graham ended up in Grannymom’s bed. We woke up a little before 7 and the kids could have slept for another few hours.
We munched on my huge box of food for breakfast (and after today, I don’t feel as bad about buying so many snacks-these kids are hungry) and then we headed off to Epcot. We were here last year and the kids really remember alot-Anderson definitely remembered the ride in the ball at Epcot. I had everyone’s car seats in the 15 passenger van that we rented and the 3 big kids were so excited to sit in the back. They just looked around and when they finally spotted the ball, they almost came out of their buckles.
The AAA parking pass comes in so handy-we parked in the very first spot on the very first row. We soon made it to the line and waited for the park to open. The kids all put on their hats and sunglasses and Reagan wore hers all day long. Graham kept his hat on as well. After we made it through the ticket line, Robby headed off to the front of the rope line to get Soarin’ fast passes. We saw Daisy Duck and had our picture made with her. Campbell would have nothing to do with Daisy. I had Reagan taking her by the hand to Daisy but she was just pulling away. Reagan was determined to drag Campbell to Daisy and they had a tug-o-war match.
After their pictures, we headed on to the rope line. We saw the character greeting and stopped there. The line was short and we saw Mickey, Pluto, Donald, Minnie and Goofy. It didn’t take long to make our way through the characters. By the end, Campbell tolerated the characters if some one else was holding.
Soon Robby had returned, moved our strollers for us and was waiting for us at the exit. We walked on to the Nemo ride and since there wasn’t a line we hopped right on. Campbell sat with me and Robby and her eyes were opened so wide. She laid her head close to Robby’s arm and didn’t look too happy but she never made a peep.
We then went into see the Crush show. I think the kids enjoyed it but since they were sitting on the floor, I couldn’t see them. I asked Reagan is Graham did okay and she said “I guess” so that is a good sign. They then enjoyed walking around the aquarium and seeing the giant shark while Robby went to get Test Track fast passes.
Next up was the Soarin’ ride for Reagan, Anderson, Grannymom and Robby. They loved it. This is the first time that Reagan and Anderson are tall enough to ride some of the rides here. Meanwhile, Nonna, Pops, Jason, me, Campbell and Graham went to the Land boat ride. Graham asked a few times if it was over but he really enjoyed seeing the garden area. After a potty stop, we did a Graham and Campbell switcheroo and Robby, G-Mom and all the kids went back to the boat ride. The Brock crew and me went to Soarin’-yes, pregnant folks aren’t supposed to ride it but I did (such a rebel). Actually, it was pretty smooth and tame so I didn’t figure it wouldn’t a problem.
After the ride, Jason went on the Behind the Seeds tour of the garden area in the Land while we sat down and had a snack (brownie and cookie) and then walked over to the Coca Cola tasting area. Robby had already managed to stop by here two times on the trip and the kids couldn’t believe that they would get their own cup of coke. And when we told them they could get more they were in shock. Campbell just managed to get her sippy cup filled with a bit of coke. These were good little stops since it is pretty warm here. It isn’t crazy hot but it is hot.
Test track was our next stop. Robby had managed to get fast passes earlier so he, Anderson, Reagan, Pops and even Nonna and Grannymom went on it. Graham just isn’t tall enough and even though we had discussed many times at home that Reagan and Anderson would get to do some rides that he didnt, he still was not pleased. Irate would be a good word to call him. Once he picked out his snack and ate it, he calmed down. We then walked around the show cars and he couldn’t believe that you could actually get into them. We even managed to see the gift shop and found a big monorail that must might could go around my Christmas tree. Just a though, we bought a train one time but it just didn’t work. When they got off of the ride, Reagan and Anderson just loved it and Grannymom and Nonna survived.
We decided to try something new and have lunch in Mexico. It was right nearby and our plan is to go to the countries on an evening that we have dinner there (we do two nights). The food in Mexico was very good. Campbell had two packages of grapes and the other kids favorite was the churros. It was all good and another nice place to stop.
At Innoventions we went and had our picture made with Mickey and Pluto. Reagan had made pictures for most of the characters and Mickey kissed her when she gave him her picture. How sweet. We took quite a few pictures but I am sure that in most of mine, I was staring at the ice chest that had fallen on the floor, I was pretty sure that it was leaking away but it was fine. We had knocked it over in the coke place and made a huge puddle-oh, we didn’t clean it up, we just scrambled as we left.
By the time we made it back to the van, Campbel was snoozing. We made it back to the hotel despite a wrong turn. The kids were ready to go swimming when we arrived at the room, they were all sitting on the beds in their underwear-waiting on me to find their swimming suits. We had tried to get Campbell to finish her nap but she would have none of that and had plans of her own to go swimming with everyone else.
The pool had a great slide and the big 3 zoomed down it a zillion times. Someone had to be there to catch them at first but by the end Reagan could do it all alone. They all had on hats and it made it so easy to tell who was who when they came zooming down the slide-I would hate to have grabbed the wrong kid. By the end, Graham was jumping in the pool like a fish. Campbell enjoyed kicking her feet and would hang on to me with a death grip when I had her out in the water-but she loved it.
We made it back to the room and changed everyone clothes and had everyone lay down. Graham finally fell asleep with Robby, Campbell played/squealed in the pack n play and Reagan and Anderson watched a few movies on tv before us all loading up again to head to dinner at Crystal Palace. It doesn’t look like anyone got too much sun today but putting sunscreen on everyone was quite the ordeal-tears and screams (mostly from me!). But I guess we did an okay job.
We parked at the Polynesian and walked to their monorail stop headed towards the Magic Kingdom-there is just something magical about that place. It is all magical to the kids-even riding the monorail is pretty cool (even though it was packed). We zoomed on to the Crystal Palace and only had to wait a few minutes for our reservation.
When we sat down, Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eyore were all about to arrive at our table so we sat and waited on them. Anderson is a bit too rough with the characters but after a lecture he started being softer-he just gets so excited. Graham tries to take a good picture but he can’t stop looking at them long enough to turn and look at the camera. Campbell is terrified but has gotten pretty good at telling them “bye bye” when they come around.
And Reagan, she has it all down pat-as she should since this is her and Anderson’s 4th time at Disney World and they have also been to Disney Land twice. Graham has now been here 3 times and Disney Land twice. This is Campbell’s second trip here and has been to Disney Land once. Pretty seasoned Disney travelers. Graham is already planning on what rides he is going to ride with Aunt Dana next year.
The food was pretty good at Crystal Palace and the characters even came around again to see us before we left. Though we would still pick Chef Mickey over this one but it was something new. After supper, we headed to ride the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. Campbell ate this ride up-she loved it. I thought she was going to have a meltdown when it was time to get off but she did well. Anderson really liked getting sprayed by the camel and thought it was so funny. We then walked over to the Pirates ride. It didn’t seem as loud as Disney Land so I think Graham did better and Campbell didn’t really know to be scared yet. Graham did better, but he was still nervous about the whole thing. Next up was the Jungle Cruise and Anderson really seemed to enjoy that.
Then we had to make our way across the park to use up our Buzz fast passes-it isn’t that far but a parade had just ended and everyone was getting ready to see the fireworks. There were wall to wall people-Robby led the way pushing one stroller and Pops pushed the other and we some how managed to stay together. The kids all had their glow sticks so maybe that helped us keep track with each other. We brought them from home and I am glad we remembered them. We have light spinners too but I need to get one for Campbell before I start passing them our or I will have one unhappy little girl.
Graham enjoyed buzz the most. He said that was his favorite ride after we left. Nonna said that Campbell turned the spin joystick and she figured out what it was far pretty quickly and liked spinning them. As the fireworks were going off, we escaped out of Magic Kingdom and made our way to the Transportation center monorail. We will see the fireworks another night so we pressed on and it was worth it to get to an empty monorail.
We only had a short walk from the monorail stop to the car but on the monorail we saw the car and then we rode and rode and rode and then we had the stop. I was pretty worried that we would have a long, long walk to reach the car but it wasn’t that bad at all. By the time Robby maneuvered backing out with the giant van, Campbell was asleep and I had passed out juice boxes to the big kids to keep them awake for the ride back to the hotel.
At the hotel, we quickly changed into our pajamas and then Reagan made her bed, climbed in and fell asleep-I don’t even think anyone told her good night. I handed Anderson his stuff and he walked on to Pop’s room and laid right down. Campbell was still laying on the bed sound asleep after changing her clothes and was moved to her bed soon. Graham wanted to chat for a minute but after Robby laid down with him, he was snoring in just a minute.
Good, good first park day. Tomorrow we have a very early breakfast at Ohana so goodnight!
No comments:
Post a Comment