Wednesday, December 15, 2010

WDW Trip Report - Day 3 - Look! The Fountain of Nations is Going Off *Again*!!

Day 3 we went to my favorite park: the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT for short). When we walked in the gates, Randy and Katelyn immediately split off to get Soarin’ Fast Passes for us while LaRae, Joshua, and I went to The Seas with Nemo and Friends. On the way, the Fountain of Nations started its show, so we stopped at watched it. I always missed it in 2009, so I was eager to see it this time. LaRae will tell you that this year the fountain was timed to go off every single time we walked by, and that I was so obsessed with it that I always stopped dead in my tracks to watch it. She’s kind of right. It’s a cool fountain!


Return of the Fast Pass Runners!
After Randy and Katelyn met us there, we went through the “Big Blue World” and then chatted with Crush in Turtle Talk. Katelyn was chosen to ask him a question, and asked, “do sea turtles like pizza?” When he asked what she meant (since he didn’t know what pizza was), she misunderstood and said, “I don’t know, my aunt made it up!” We had prompted her on possible questions before the show, so we got a good laugh out of that, and he did tell her what sea turtles like to eat.

My order for the day is a little messed up here, but at some point we rode Journey into Imagination with Figment (both kids sat with me which was awesomesauce). I know there are old school purists who hate the new version of this ride, but I love this one just as much as the original. The song makes me smile, and we all always end up singing along. We played around in the Imagination Pavilion for a while and Joshua particularly had fun with the fountains outside of the Pavilion. (If you can’t tell by now, the fountains at EPCOT are a huge highlight for my family.)

LaRae's hand being eaten by a Figment of her imagination ---^

At some point Randy ran off to get Test Track Fast Passes, and we went around to the Boulangerie Patisserie in France for a snack. I got my favorite Disney World treat: Napoleon and a Baguette with real butter.This is one of the only photos where you will see me with my hair down at WDW. I totally misjudged the Florida humidity and as the day went on, my hair got bigger and bigger (a la Monica on Friends when they went to Jamaica)! By the end I was ready to put it all in tiny braids with beads. ;-)

Katelyn had missed a cheese tasting experience at school when she was out while flying to WDW, so she got a cheese plate and did her own cheese tasting. Her and Josh (all of us really) enjoyed each of the cheeses. I was surprised that she gave each one a chance. It was super cute and a fun experience.

We ate lunch (based on my friend Kyle's recommendation) at the Tangierine Cafe in Morocco. The chicken platter was a yummy change from the burgers and chicken sandwiches we had been eating. My favorite part of the meal was the hummus, and I am definitely a new lover of chickpeas. Katelyn, brave from the success of the cheese tasting, tried and loved the baklava. It's always fun to try new things, and we all left happy and full from this new experience.

We quickly rode Spaceship Earth on our way out of the park (again I rode with Katelyn and had fun watching her “choose” our future at the end). After that it was rest time. All the adults went back to the resort to chill while the kids slept. LaRae and I played a rousing game of Fruit Ninja on my iPad while Randy played something else (not nearly as cool) on his iPad. I could tell you what other games we played, but I'm betting you don't really care, eh? ;-)

We returned to EPCOT in time for our dinner reservations at Garden Grill. Since we had free quick service dining, we only did a couple table service meals (out of pocket) this trip. This experience was my favorite table service by far! The waiter, Chris, was thoughtful and attentive. The food was melt-in-your-mouth amazing: steak and potatoes, grilled mahi-mahi, and turkey with dressing. The salad with greens from Living with the Land was phenomenal, but that might have been because I'd been eating meals of beige so far, and my body was craving green. The restaurant allowed for fun character experiences with the perk of feeling like you were the only ones in the restaurant thanks to the booth set up. The whole spins (very slowly), so part of the time you are actually in the Living with the Land ride. I can’t say enough good about this dining experience. I left full and with a huge smile on my face.

Adding to that smile was something that happened at the bathrooms. I’ve debated writing this, but Randy was a good sport about the event, so I’m hoping he’ll continue to laugh. LaRae and I took the kids to the bathroom as Randy finished paying the bill. The kids were still going/playing around, so I headed out to wait on a bench. (These particular bathrooms you entered the door to the women’s restroom and then went down a kind of hall before you entered the sink area and then the toilets.) As I headed around the corner, I practically ran into Randy as he was about the enter the sink area! Needless to say, we were both surprised to see each other! I quickly exclaimed, “sorry it’s taking a while! We’re coming! You don’t have to come get us!” Both of us, laughing at what just happened and the near miss, exited, and he went off to find the appropriate restroom. :D (Yeah, I'm still laughing about it now!)

After dinner we used our Soarin’ Fast Passes (first time Randy and the kids rode it). Joshua sat by me since Randy convinced him we were shoe buddies and that meant we needed to sit together. See? Our crocs (on the right) are the only ones with straps! Thank you for that, Randy, because it made my evening! For the whole ride, Josh held on tight to the handles on the seats. I think he really thought we were flying. He was adorable as he lifted his feet as we went over water scenes so his shoes wouldn’t get wet. We all greatly enjoyed the ride and left saying how we wanted to bring Grammer and Granddaddy on it when they joined us in a couple of days.

Since we had Fast Passes for Test Track, we went there next. None of us had ever ridden Test Track before, so we had no idea what to expect. We told Joshua that his Aunt Joanna was a racecar driver before she was a math teacher, so once again we got him to sit by me on a ride. I’m not sure if he believed us, but he really seemed to easily accept that story. Through the whole ride, he sounded like that pig in the commercial that goes “wheee” all the way home! So adorable to hear his quiet “whhhhheeeeeeee” the whole ride! We all LOVED Test Track, but Katelyn got really scared by the semi that looks like it’s going to hit you and declared that she never wanted to ride it again. Honestly she conquered two of the Mountains, and I was super impressed by that. Test Track isn’t for everyone. :)

We might have ridden The Seas again, but I’m not sure. We headed home not too early but not too late. By this point in our trip we were all getting tired early. The kids would wake up around 6 every morning, so we easily made Park opening, so by night time, we were ready for some sleep. Honestly though, morning is the best time to get on rides with short lines, so it was ok.

Looking back, we crammed so much into that day without it ever feeling rushed! Tomorrow Disney amazes me again with water as an evil queen sets a lake on fire!

4 comments:

  1. You left out that every 15 mintues the kids pointed at the monorail cars and said, "Look, Dad, Tron Legacy! You should see Tron Legacy!"

    The bathroom incident was pretty comical. I guess I could have been kicked out of Epcot.

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  2. Sorry I was too busy looking at the fountain to notice the Tronorail. ;-)

    I'm just glad it was me you ran into walking into the bathroom and not some random woman.

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  3. Yes you're glad because if it had been some random woman you would not know about the incident and would be unable to laugh at me.

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  4. Do you really think you would have been able to not tell us what had happened? Your face would have still been red.

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