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Thursday, December 18th
We woke up at our usual time on our first
full day, had breakfast in our villa of cereal, fruit, English
muffins, juice and coffee (for the adults, of course). We
decided that since we didn’t sleep in we’d try to make opening
at Epcot, which was 9am.
After everyone got ready we packed
ourselves into the RAV-4 and made our way to Epcot. We got a
great parking spot and made our way through the turnstiles
around 9:15am. It seems that everyone first hit the newly
renovated Spaceship Earth so we figured we’d bypass that until
later and just head over to the Living Seas with Nemo and
Friends.
We dropped off our strollers and walked
onto the Nemo Ride. This was all Amelia was able to talk about
leading up to the trip so she was very excited to ride again.
Ernie enjoyed it as well and was pointing out various things on
the ride. It was fun, as usual.
A not so hidden
Mickey and getting our picture taken with Bruce.
Both kids were actually frightened this time!
Afterwards, I wanted to avoid Turtle Talk,
but after walking around the Seas, a CM told us that the next
Turtle Talk would be in 5 minutes. Once Amelia heard that there
was no turning back. So we saw the next show and as usual Amelia
enjoyed it but Ernie would not sit through it. He’s just not up
for that show yet.
We were hoping to see the manatee but after
heading to their tank we were told they wouldn’t be out until
10am. We had a bit before that and didn’t want to wait. We saw
the dolphins, found a hidden mickey in the tank and watched the
fish. The kids enjoyed all of this, as did EB and I. Amelia
requested the Nemo Ride once again so we complied and rode one
more time that day. It’s a nice break. We were happy to hear
that Peach has many new lines added which are very amusing. I
won’t ruin it for anyone who has not heard the changes.
Next we headed into Innoventions to see
what this area was all about – we had never been in this
building before. There was a Velcro show and a fire safety area.
They also had some video games and other neat areas that I think
the kids will enjoy when they are a bit older. It was fun to see
something new, though, and the kids enjoyed playing with the
fire truck.
By this time it was about 10:45 and time to
start thinking about lunch. We did not have lunch plans and took
a look at the offerings around the World Showcase. Nothing
sounded good to the kids (although several options sounded yummy
for us) so we figured we take a leisurely stroll through the
World Showcase and out the World Showcase entrance – heading to
Beaches and Cream for some grilled cheeses, veggie burgers and
ice cream.
It was a very nice walk and once we arrived
at Beaches and Cream, we were seated within minutes. The only
thing I don’t like about this place is how cramped the tables
are. Very crowded! They should move the arcade next door and
expand this eatery, IMO.
We ordered veggie burgers for the adults.
EB got onion rings and I got fries. The kids split a grilled
cheese sandwich which they both enjoyed. For dessert EB got a
scoop of chocolate chip mint while Amelia got a kids strawberry
sundae. Ernie had one of the oreo cookies that comes with
Amelia’s sundae and was perfectly content. I had a caramel
sundae (I think).
Overall, the food was decent but not
outstanding. But we don't go to Beaches 'n Cream over and over
for outstanding food. It is good, hearty and consistent. We love
the old-time atmosphere and we always seem to get the same
waitress year after year, trip after trip! With the DVC member
card and/or the DDE card we get a discount, as well.
After lunch we headed back into Epcot and
by this time Ernie was very tired and needed his nap.
As you can see from the picture above, the
poor kid was ZONING! Ha ha! We were hoping he’d fall asleep on
the walk back but he did not fall asleep until we were on
Spaceship Earth.
This was our first time on Spaceship Earth and
we really enjoyed it! It was getting late in the day for us and
the kids needed a nap, otherwise we may have ridden it one more
time. But we’d be back to Epcot in a few days and would ride it
then.
We left Epcot shortly before 1pm and headed
back to SSR for some relaxation before our big evening at the
Magic Kingdom.
Fast forward because the "in-between" is
really not interesting!....
After a brief rest, we headed out to the
Magic Kingdom and had dinner at Crystal Palace. Our reservation
was for 4:05pm and we were only a few minutes late.
I tried to get some pics as you can see
below, but there was something totally off with my camera
settings.
We enjoyed a quick dinner at Crystal Palace
and had pictures with Tigger and Pooh. We didn’t get to stick
around for pictures with Eeyore and Piglet, though, we’d be back
to Crystal Palace later in the week.
 
After Crystal Palace we headed to
Adventureland for some rides and decide our first ride would be
Pirates. While in queue (they actually had both lines open
tonight) we saw our friends Sheri, Chris and family hopping
into a boat for their ride. I flagged them down and waved. We
decided to meet up after the ride. We couldn't have planned that
chance encounter! Ha ha!
The kids enjoyed the ride as usual,
especially the waterfall. Most kids are afraid on this ride, but
not mine! Amelia loves scary stuff and "thrill" effects! She's a
lot like her Father already. I hope Ernie is similar.
We met up with and spoke to Chris and
family (their boys are so cute!) and decided to meet up in
Fantasyland a bit later. We wanted to catch the Castle Lighting
show and they had other plans – all of which would bring us to
Fantasyland at the same time, anyway, so it worked out nicely.
We headed to the front of the Castle
closest to the path for Liberty Square and staked a spot on the
curb. Amelia immediately made friends with a little girl named
Kate who was dressed as Snow White. They played with Kate’s glow
sticks for about 20 minutes until the show. It was breathtaking
and worth the wait. I was so glad to have seen this from the
front this time. Last year we were sitting in Cosmic Rays eating
dinner during the show and missed it. At this point, Ernie was
exhausted but seriously fighting falling asleep. He’d catch a
second wind on the dance floor later before finally passing out
after the parade.
After the Castle Show we headed to
Fantasyland and rode Carousel, Philharmagic, Dumbo, and danced
at the dance party behind Dumbo.
That’s where we met up with Chris, Sheri
and family at Dance party. Boy, can their son Eric dance! Even
Ernie was getting into it for a little while. They all danced
their hearts out and then Chris and family left to stake out
parade spots. We were going to meet up with them as we were
about 5 minutes behind them for one reason or another. I think
it was because we needed to change Ernie’s diaper or something
like that.
They were able to get great spots for the
parade in Frontierland and we watched the parade together.
Everyone really enjoyed it. Poor Ernie was still fighting sleep!
Poor guy. He is never up this late! In fact, Amelia is never up
this late either.
After the parade we said our goodbyes to
our friends. They were sticking around for more rides (lucky
them) and we headed back to SSR. Once in the RAV-4, Amelia and
Ernie both passed out cold. We slipped them into bed, both in
the main bedroom this time and they slept well through the
night. EB and I straightened up the main room and watched some
TV. I must add here, too, that I was supposed to have received a
call from Airtran’s Lost and Found at MCO once my bag/laptop had
arrived back to them that evening. I didn’t receive a call and
we’d have to deal with that the next day. My hopes of actually
getting my laptop back were beginning to slip away.
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