Visiting the Mouse Episode #2: Arrival and Day 1 at Epcot!

Wow, it's mid September already!  Most of July and August found me sulking in the land of the never ending bathroom renovation.  Seriously, coming home and seeing little to no progress on some days is a real mood killer.  I felt like doing absolutely nothing.  However, short of some mirror frames, we are done and back in business.  Hard to believe the kids are already done with their second full week of school.  If the weather would just cool down a bit around these parts we could really get into Fall!

So why not head back to the beginning of Summer!?! I left you all hanging at the start of our WDW trip in June.  It's time to start give you the details!  I'll break it up into a few posts because there's a lot to share.

For this trip down we decided to drive most of the way on Saturday and stay just below St. Augustine.  This worked well for us on Marathon weekend and it was also a success this trip.  We arrived at Disney Springs on Sunday morning just before opening…first stop was the Art of Disney to get my latest Mary Blair print.  This was a priority for me so we were waiting outside the door before it even opened.  Which was nice because we got a chance to stroll around before the crowds.  I highly recommend this for getting a good look at the new Disney Springs.   I picked out a print from Cinderella this time that I have since framed and absolutely love now that I realize it will be perfect in our new bathroom!   After that we strolled through the Co-Op, World of Disney, and a few other stores before hitting T-Rex right when it opened.  We had planned on dining there Wednesday evening but decided to give it a shot on Sunday since we needed to eat lunch somewhere.  

Atmosphere was really cool, we sat in the Ice Cave.  Food was surprisingly good, although it was slooowww to arrive.  I’ll chalk it up to us being there right when it opened.  We were probably among the first rush of orders to arrive all at once in the kitchen

I got a text during lunch that our room was ready so out of there and over to Yacht Club!  I give this hotel high marks. The location was ideal because it was walking distance to Epcot and even Hollywood Studios.  If it was just Ted and I we would have walked to HS but with the kids it was the boat and even that was quick.  We would definitely look at staying here again…even over a Monorail Resort.

We were fortunate enough, thanks to our vacation planner Kerri, to score a discount on a CLUB Level room and it was everything everyone said it would be...absolutely wonderful.  Breakfast, afternoon snacks, evening dessert and free booze.  What’s not to like?  We made full use of the club lounge, even used the heavy appetizers as dinner for two of the nights.  Seriously, you could roll on out of there if you weren’t careful.  And Ted was all about the free beer.  I didn’t go heavy on the booze myself but they did have Angry Orchard Hard Cider, which is a favorite.  Then wine in the evening and even some dessert booze late night.

Teddy's favorite seat in the lounge, doing what Young Chet does best:

Since we upgraded our room after I had booked our dining, I didn't use the advance planning services available to club level to their full potential. However the concierge staff was really nice for the couple of questions we had during the trip.   What else?  Room was great, pretty much your standard deluxe Disney room.  Beds were comfy, balcony nice and I liked that the room opened to a hallway and not outside.  We were down the hall a bit from the lounge which was great for the noise level.  I would NOT want one of the rooms near the lounge.  

The highlight of the hotel for the kids?? The POOL!  Stormalong Bay (as it is called) is the best hotel pool at Disney, hands down. We were there every day, usually twice a day!  The slide was fun for kids and adults but I think the favorite was the huge sand bottom kiddie pool.  Perfect for Teddy who was just learning to swim. 

We went to Beaches and Cream for dinner Sunday night and it was a lot of fun.  I have to admit my dining choices weren't as stellar this trip and they were for our last one but this was one of the highlights.  We didn't order The Kitchen Sink Sundae but the booth next to us did and it was delivered with all of the fanfare.  Wow!

Monday was our big Epcot Day.  It was also Ted's birthday.  He went out for an early morning run during which time I snuck downstairs for his Birthday Button and got his gift out.  He loved the shirt and wore it that day but was not game for wearing the button at the park.

Of we went to the International Gateway! We headed straight to Joy and Sadness in Innoventions because you cannot fastpass them (and we already had our fastpasses lined up).  While I was in line for J&S Ted took them across the way to meet Baymax who had a very short line.  They were through that in about 10 minutes and then back in line with me.

J&S were a lot of fun.  Katherine wore an inside out shirt with J&S on it and Joy noticed right away.  They really were true to their characters.  I’d say we were in and out of there in about 30 minutes for both Baymax and J&S but I didn’t really keep a close eye on my watch.

Our first fastpass was for Spaceship at 9:30 so we went there right after the characters. Somewhere in the character line my glasses happened to break.  The screw in one of the arm hinges fell off when I was switching from my sunglasses to glasses.  LUCKILY the screw was in the case and I was VERY careful to tuck the case away and not use it for the rest of the day.  I thought I would be ok without the screw since the arm fit rather snugly in the hinge but I found out walking off of Spaceship Earth that this was not the case as I almost lost the arm completely.  Thankfully someone behind me saw it and picked it up before anyone stepped on it or it got lost forever.  Note to self, bring spare pair of glasses on trips from now on.  Thank goodness for prescription sunglasses! I used those for the rest of the day, unless it was really dark, in which case I looked like a dork and put on my one arm frames, which fit rather crookedly on my face.  I can see ok without my glasses but it gets a bit uncomfortable, especially in dim light when I have to read something (talking to you Coral Reef Restaurant menu).  When we got back to the hotel I was able to put the screw back in using the side of a barrette as a screwdriver (they didn’t have a tiny screwdriver anywhere at the hotel) and then put a piece of clear tape over it just in case.  Good to go for the rest of the trip.

So anyways, after Spaceship Earth (other than the glasses incident, which really didn’t interfere much) we headed over to Imagination.  I’m always quite outspoken about how this version of Imagination is in no way, shape or form equivalent to the original.  But I have to say, on this trip, it did nudge up a bit in its appeal in my heart.  I did find myself singing along to the song and I love the final scene.   It was already on my “to do” list to buy a Figment doll and we walked out with two small ones because, well, two kids, need I saw more?  

We spent some time at the jumping fountain after the ride where I got one of my favorite photos of the trip.  Teddy started waving to the monorail as it drove by.  I have a sequence of pictures of this and they among my favorite photos from the trip.

And of course both kids tried to soak themselves!

Off to The Seas!  This was a favorite last time and it was this time, although I found on this trip that Katherine got bored quicker.  I chalk it up to age, which brings a tear to my eye thinking of the little girl running around looking at all of this fish our last trip.  Don’t get me wrong, she had fun, but a bit of the wonder and amazement was gone.  We were able to catch the diver show and the manatee talk but I have to admit that I was a sleeper on fastpasses for Turtle Talk and the wait was too long.  My kids will probably be 20 by the time I think to go in there.

Coral Reef for lunch.  Honestly?  It was ok.  We were seated up high, so not up close and personal to the tanks, which I wanted. All those tables were full, so I couldn’t even request it. So the kids were interested for a bit but then only here and there as something swam by.  It probably would have been smart to plan this for BEFORE going through The Seas, not after.  Service was great and up to usual Disney standards but food was just decent, good but not out of this world for what we paid for it.  I expected more.  Glad we checked it out but wouldn’t do it again.  I am sure my opinion would be different had we been seated right in front of the tank.

After lunch we split up.  We had a Test Track Fastpass but Teddy suddenly decided he didn’t want to do it and Ted had never planned to do it in the first place.  So K and I headed to TT while the boys went over to The Land to go on the boat ride through the greenhouses (Teddy’s request).

K LOVED Test Track and her car design came in first place!

We met back up with the boys at the model car display and then wandered over to World Showcase.  We didn’t linger too long at any one country because the kids were getting hot and we could tell it was pool time.  However we did watch the Mariachi band in Mexico (it was so cute, the kids right over and sat down as soon as they say the band was about to start).

Then we moved on to the miniature trains in Germany (Teddy wanted to linger a lot longer than Katherine) AND just happened to get to America just as a whole bunch of characters came out in the alley!!!  We went for the ones the kids didn’t have autographs for already, so that meant they did Mr. Smee and Rabbit first and then Goofy (already had his but he’s a favorite).  Chip and Dale, Donald, and Mickey (!!) were there too but the kids were getting hot and weren’t interested.  We walked back to the hotel and retreated to the pool for a good chunk of the rest of the day. 

What else did we do that day? Pin trading. Before our trip I had bought a small lot of trading pins from EBay.  Originally the kids had told me that they weren't interested in pin trading, just collecting.  I bought a small lot of 10 pins, just in case.  Turns out the kids loved it and I wish now I had bought a larger pin lot for them on EBay.  They really only did it the first day or so and here and there after that because they didn’t want to trade out all of their pins.  Part of this is because the pin lot I bought (10 pins) turned out to be a REALLY good lot and the kids found keepers in them.  Two 2016 dated pins.  A Tinkerbell themed pin, a Chip pin.  So each of them was down to 3 tradeable pins after they decided to keep those. I tried my best not to influence their trades and let them choose what they wanted.  It was hard because there were a few good ones that they weren’t interested in.  It is their pin collections and not mine.  Another thing we spotted was a Survey Marker (and Teddy turned down a Survey Marker pin trade with a CM!), this one in front of the old Odyssey Restaurant.  Turns out Survey Marker finding is another big thing that people do at the World. Ted and I found it interesting but the kids were probably too young to get into it.  Hobby for a future trip perhaps?

So after characters the kids practically raced back to the hotel to get in the pool.  Again, hotel location was key here!  Kids did the arcade in the evening but had no interest in going back to a park.  With all the walking and then swimming hard at the pool, they were pooped by about 7:30 each night.  We stuck to their regular bedtime all week and I think that paid off in dividends.  Not that they were angels 100% of the time but we avoided the miserable meltdowns that I saw from other kids by going at their speed and just enjoying our time.

Day 2 coming soon!