Ah... our long awaited trip to Epcot finally arrived (uh... wait... weren't we just there a couple of days ago?) Well... anyway...
We had been planning this day for over a year, when Phil booked a room for Mom and Dad at the Polynesian resort! Mom has often talked about wanting to stay there... for as long as I have known her, anyway, and we wanted to pull this off as a complete surprise... which was not easy!
Just as everyone else got ready to leave the house for our day at Epcot, Phil ran out and informed them that he had a school assignment that he had forgotten about, and he had to get it in, so they should just go on ahead of us. Mom (who was situated in Brad and Sheri's van) protested, saying that they could wait, but Phil insisted. Then... just as Brad was backing up, Phil ran out again, saying that he needed Mom's car keys, since he'd left something in the trunk. Again, Mom said they would wait, but Brad peeled out of the driveway, and that was the end of that!
Phil and I proceeded to rush around, packing everything we could find that belonged to Mom and Dad and throwing it in their car. Then I drove the kids to the monorail station, and Phil drove Mom and Dad's car to the Polynesian parking lot. Unfortunately, he had a very difficult time checking them into their room, because he had listed their names as "guests" but not his own (since... duh... he wasn't staying there!) Even though everything else about the reservation was covered with his name, they didn't want to let him check in! Finally they bent some rules, and all was well... Except we'd wasted an hour of our lives, and Caleb, in his distress, had chained himself to the monorail ramp:
I honestly did not pose him like that!Seth and Grace made great use of the time, determining to work at Disney when they grow up so that they can paint the benches... and the sidewalk! Grace later informed me that she is also going to tear down The Haunted Mansion and Stitch's Great Escape... I hope she has an upper management position if she is going to make decisions like that... hehehe...
Phil finally did join us... after a 20 minute solo monorail ride from the Poly (could've walked in 5)... and we were off to Epcot!
We met up with the rest of the extended fam. and took a ride on Test Track (except for Mom and Dad who stayed off to entertain Ian)! Here's the video from the "Mom Cam"... It was kind of hard to hold it steady, as I was flying!
Please note that this did not affect Grace's hair, which was now on day 4 of the Bippidi Bobbidi Boutique do! I have no idea if it was supposed to last that long, but I am not complaining!
Then we all went our separate ways for a couple of hours. We rode the Dinosaur Ride in Universe of Energy, and we think the addition of Ellen is pretty irritating... but not for all the reasons you might imagine. We just didn't really like having people (Ellen and Bill Nye) showing up in the dinosaur part of the ride. It took away from the experience. It was hilarious, though, when Caleb (who was situated on the outside seat of our row) looked over at the dinosaurs... and then looked at me and said, "Mommy, I shouldn't have chosen this seat!" Grace was terrified of the dinosaurs, and Ian fell asleep! It was quite the ride! We also rode Living With the Land, which our kids find interesting, even though most people say it is boring!
We met up with the rest of the fam. again to ride Spaceship Earth, which has been greatly improved since our last trip to Disney! And then we all jumped the monorail, supposedly to go to the Magic Kingdom.
However, right before we arrived at the transportation center, we all become very... very thirsty, and decided it would be a great idea if Dad would show us the all you can drink soda bar that he is so fond of, located (you guessed it) at the Poly. So, we jumped another monorail, rode to the Poly, all proceeded to order drinks, and sat for awhile until Phil conveniently had to use the restroom. When he came back, he slipped the room keys by Mom's chair, and when we got ready to go he said, "See ya later Mom and Dad!" And they were very confused, because they thought they were coming with us. And I have to note here that we had three separate video cameras running at this point, and they never caught on!
Phil handed the room keys to Mom saying that she must have dropped them, and she was completely confused, because they weren't hers. Finally, Phil mentioned that they were staying at the Polynesian for the night, and then they got it... realized why all the cameras were on them... and were very happy! Here's a pic., just before the guy in the golf cart came to whisk them away to their room:
Everybody else actually did go back to the Magic Kingdom at this point, but we returned to Epcot, because there were still a lot of things we wanted to do there! Future World was only open until 7:00, so we really had to scurry. We had dinner at the Electric Umbrella, and spent some time at Innoventions, where we learned about storms and recycling... and I might not sound fun, but it really was.
Then we headed over to The Land, where we rode Soarin' with our fast passes! Phil, Seth, and Grace came off the ride with 3 minutes to spare for me and Caleb to get on! All I can say is "WOW!" What an amazing ride (and I don't like simulators)! I honestly felt like if Caleb leaned forward he was going to fall into the ocean!
After that, we ran to Imagination and walked on to Figment, just like 2 years ago. We did not take time to stop at the Kodak Imageworks exhibits, which was disappointing, because they looked greatly improved since our last visit, as well.
Instead, we ran over to The Seas. And I do mean ran! We walked on to The Nemo Ride (which usually has a pretty good sized line), and then we walked into a showing of Turtle Talk With Crush (which also usually has a pretty good sized line). Ian was screaming, and Crush made a comment about someone in the audience "speaking dolphin", which cracked us all up! We actually did get to run through The Living Seas exhibit after that, because they hadn't closed it down for the night yet, and then we were eaten (again) by Bruce. Please keep in mind that Phil tends to be eaten more graphically than the rest of us:
We then boarded the monorail for the fourth time in one day and headed back to the house:
It was a very good day...Lisa
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