Whirlwind Trip to WDW Day 2
June 5, 2008 we decided the night before that we would visit Epcot today. Andy didn’t have an early morning class so he was able to join us for a short time before heading off to his conference. Because we didn’t get back to our hotel until after 1:00am, we decided to sleep in and not worry about getting there so early.
After taking the bus from our hotel we arrived at Epcot around 10:30 in the morning. Andy had been here before and said that Alex would love Mission Space so we headed there first. The line was not horrible so we entered on the green side. Andy had said I should not have a problem here so was not worried about getting sick. Then I saw the warning signs and had my doubts. No matter, I was there and wanted to ride. We were shown to our aircraft and quickly seated ourselves. I found this ride very enjoyable even though it did make me a bit sick. Nothing serious, just a little bit dizzy so I was okay to keep going. Alex really liked the ride too but we were never sure if he could really see the monitor inside the ‘spacecraft’ or not.
We saw that there was no way we had time to do Test Track and since we were both sure I would not be able to ride we decided to skip it and not even mention this attraction to Alex. Andy had not been able to ride earlier in the week because the lines were too long.
Instead we headed over to the Seas and got in line for Finding Nemo. We all really liked the clamshells. They are a much more comfortable seating arrangement than a submarine. The ride itself was okay but the same attraction at Disneyland is much better. At Epcot the ride seemed to leave out parts of the storyline, making it a very disjointed story. This is not the case at Disneyland. Here the storyline is complete and the animatronics bright and colorful. We definitely give Disneyland the best on the Nemo rides.
Once we exited Nemo we just spent a few minutes in the Seas area before Andy had to leave. Alex really wanted to ride Soarin’ so we found the Land, parked the stroller and headed inside. I was surprised to find such a large area that doesn’t accommodate strollers and wheelchairs easily. Alex and I made our way downstairs to get Fastpasses for Soarin’ and encounted our first Fastpass return time that was several hours away. Since we couldn’t return until 2:30 we had a few hours to kill. Knowing I would not have enough time to do World Showcase, and my swollen ankles and feet were killing me I decided to stay pretty close to Soarin’.
We decided to take the time to eat at Seasons. Here Alex just had a fruit cup and a banana. I decided to try a ham sandwich and was shocked at the size of this meal! The sandwich was very big. I enjoyed it, but it did have a weird taste that I finally decided was one of the different types of lettuce in the sandwich. It was not weird enough to keep me from eating though and I was able to eat almost half before throwing in the towel.
Still with more than an hour to kill we decided it was time to shop. We had been in Orlando for two days (not yet a complete 24 hours, but who was counting?) and had yet to enter a store. Lucky me, I have a son who also loves to shop.
We decided to go back to Mickey Gears and spent a lot of time looking at just about everything they had for sale. I was really happy Mynde had gotten me the ice cubes because they had none here. I did manage to find a pancake/egg Mickey Mouse shaper. This doesn’t seem sturdy enough to be cooked with, but I will try it out. I also got a Mickey Icon for my car. This has warnings on it that once you put it on, you will not be able to remove it. I will put it on the back window since back windows rarely have to be replaced. There were also Mickey parts measuring cups so I grabbed those as well. Alex really enjoyed building a Potato Head as I looked around. Finally I was done, but wanted to look at charm bracelets. I had wanted one for a long time and it was finally time to do it. I had my bracelet and charms picked out and went to the cashier. I asked him if they had better quality bracelets and he assured me they did. What I had was a child’s bracelet. He showed me the silver charm bracelets and charms. I ended up getting the bracelet and one charm. Now each time I go to Disneyland or WDW I can buy another charm.
Because I spent more than $40 I could also get the limited edition Mickey through the years watch. That was a no-brainer for me so I also got that for myself. It was while things were being rung up when Alex said he had to go potty. While he finished ringing up my sale I found out the location of the closest restroom and quickly hurried there after paying. I got Alex into a stall and held it closed for him. When he came out he had urine all over his shirt, shorts and underpants. I still am not sure if he had is accident before we got to the bathroom, or if it happened in the bathroom. In either case it didn’t matter. It would take to long to go back to the hotel, so the easy choice was to buy clothing.
Much to my surprise, the store had clothing to fit Alex. At Disneyland that would have been an impossible task. So I paid for plaid shorts, plaid boxers and a matching shirt with plaid cuffs and such. We went back to the bathroom where I put him on the baby changing table and stripped him down. I used a combination of water and wet nap to clean him up. I put the boxers on him and decided they were adorable and he didn’t need the shorts. They went into the stroller in case of another accident, and stayed there the rest of the trip. Once he was all dressed he was so cute in his new WDW clothing!
We still had time to kill before Soarin’ so decided to ride Living With the Land. We only had to wait about 20 minutes in an air conditioned building. The time went pretty quickly. When we were loaded we got the front row of the second boat. I had thought this would be a boring ride, but both Alex and I really enjoyed it. I love how Disney makes learning fun!
Finally it was time for Soarin’ so we got in line, surrendered our fastpasses and suddenly I hear the words ‘I have to go potty’. Well I had no choice; we had to leave the line. They were unable to give our fastpasses back but instead gave us a baby switch pass. We hurried out and to the bathroom. On the way we ran into someone with a dog. This was a beagle, not the standard Seeing Eye dog you see. I quickly discovered this little beauty wasn’t a Seeing Eye dog anyway. He was a seizure alert dog. I had heard about dogs that could warn of impending seizures, but had never seen one so this was great. Once Alex was done we used our baby switch pass to get back in line. I had told them that this was his favorite ride at Disneyland, and this was our first time here. I was hoping that would help us to score good seats. I could not have been more wrong. We were given C3. Oh well. We still absolutely enjoyed Soarin’ as usual. It did seem a little surreal to be watching California while on a ride in Florida though!
By the time our ride was over we had been at Epcot several hours longer than planned. All day long Alex had been saying he wanted to ride Epcot. I kept telling him the park was Epcot and we couldn’t ‘ride’ Epcot. But then we got to the ball and Alex said that was Epcot. So, seeing absolutely no line we decided to do Spaceship Earth. This was a nice gentle ride, another learning experience in a fun Disney way. We both enjoyed the attraction, and Alex finally got to ride Epcot!
We left Epcot then, and grabbed a Monorail that took us to the Ticket and laceName w:st="on">TransportationlaceName> laceType w:st="on">CenterlaceType>. We took the Ferry to the laceName w:st="on">MagiclaceName> laceType w:st="on">KingdomlaceType>. I had Andy’s ticket with the hope that we could get 3 fastpasses today. By the time we got there it was around 4:30 and Andy would be arriving soon.
Alex and I decided to head over to laceName w:st="on">HauntedlaceName> laceType w:st="on">MansionlaceType> for a look. The line was long and there were no fastpasses so we didn’t ride. We went to Pooh for fastpasses and were able to get one for Andy, but not with his ticket. Unlike the Disneyland Resort, we found that at WDW you have to actually enter the park to get a Fastpass. After obtaining the fastpasses we headed toward Tomorrowland where I knew there was a cart that had soft drinks and ice cream. I got a diet coke for myself and an Itzakadoodle for Alex. He had a few of these on the trip and loved this icy treat.
Once Alex was done with his treat it was time to go out and meet Andy. We left the park but stayed in the secured area so I didn’t have to prepare my bags again. Andy got there shortly after and we headed into the laceName w:st="on">MagiclaceName> laceType w:st="on">KingdomlaceType>. While Alex and I were walking around I had seen a bit of Dream Along with Mickey and knew that Alex would love it, so that was the first thing we did after Andy got there. He video taped and I snapped a ton of pictures. It was longer than I expected and choc full of characters. We all really enjoyed this show.
Finally we were going to ride laceName w:st="on">HauntedlaceName> laceType w:st="on">MansionlaceType>. We made bathroom stops and got in the line. We only had a 20 minute wait or so, and there were misters in the line to cool us down. Again today the temperatures were close to unbearable. We all really enjoyed this ride. Andy and I like the fact that the changing pictures are seen from the doom buggies, and Leota tells us to hurry back while we are still on the ride. We both give laceName w:st="on">MagiclaceName> laceType w:st="on">KingdomlaceType> the win on laceName w:st="on">HauntedlaceName> laceType w:st="on">MansionlaceType>.
Tonight we were not going to get stuck without food, so decided right then and there to eat. There was a Taco place that sounded good, so we headed over and it was closed. We ended up at Pecos Bills. This is a huge restaurant with dining inside and out, and a condiment bar as well. We got bacon cheeseburgers for us, fruit and yogurt for Alex, complementary ice water and drinks. I then loaded my burger with mushrooms and onions, pickles, mustard and mayonnaise. It was yummy!
After dinner we had decided to watch the Country Bears. We got inside the waiting area when Alex said he had to go potty. I took him so that Andy could tape the Country Bears in case we didn’t make it back there. After Alex went potty we saved seats for the Spectromagic Parade.
I had been totally prepared to hate this parade because it wasn’t the Electric Parade. I LOVED it! It was very well done and simply amazing. The Chernabog float was very impressive. While the music was not as catchy as ‘E’ it was still good.
After the parade we went back to Fantasyland to use our front of the line passes on Pooh. Oh – I mean fastpasses, but seriously, these took us to the front of the line – we had no wait at all. We have different opinions of this attraction. I think the WDW ride is better, Andy thinks the DL version is better, so we have no clear winner on Pooh.
As we exited Pooh the fireworks were starting. I stayed there to watch Wishes. Not the best place to be because some were in front of me while others were behind me. It was a nice show, but Believe beats this one hands down. DL wins the fireworks shows!
We decided to see Spectromagic again from Main Street and grabbed a spot on the hub to watch. From here we were able to see laceName w:st="on">CinderellalaceName> laceType w:st="on">CastlelaceType> change color in time to the music. It was incredible. Once I again I thoroughly enjoyed this parade. Alex fell asleep. Poor little guy was exhausted.
After the parade the laceName w:st="on">MagiclaceName> laceType w:st="on">KingdomlaceType> was closed and we headed toward the exit with everyone else. We caught the 2nd Ferry to the TTC and found our bus waiting for us. The trip to the hotel was quick and Alex was asleep within seconds of going to bed.
Andy and I made changes to our previous schedule here so the next two days will be a surprise to everyone!
Coming up – VIP Heaven, A Kiss for R2, and a Bad Buffet