[mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince]

My plan was to only stay in World Showcase long enough to visit Canada and the UK, and then hit Future World. Our next stop would be the tip board to check out the wait time and FP situation for the Big 3 . It had been a while since our Le Cellier lunch, and we were all pretty thirsty, so we stopped to get some frozen lemonades. While it wasn’t terribly hot out, it was warmer than we were used to, so a FB was definitely in order! (Thanks, Princess Sharon, for the abbreviation!) I wasn’t sure where the tip board was located, so after we stopped to get some Photopass pictures taken, the photographers sent us in the right direction.

What happened next was one of my favorite moments of the whole trip. As we were checking out the tip board, I noticed the name of the CM manning the board: Hugh. Well, my dad’s name is Hugh, and my brother’s name is Hugh! Since we very rarely run into anyone else named Hugh, I struck up a conversation with him. He was probably around my dad’s age, and from the East Coast, like my dad. I told him about my brother, and how we were so excited to see him again, since he’d just gotten back from Iraq and we hadn’t seen him for a year. He asked if we were going to take my brother out for dinner, and I told him about our plans to treat them to breakfast on Wednesday morning.

At this point, the girls got involved in the conversation and asked Mr. Hugh if they could trade pins with him. When they were done with their transaction, Mr. Hugh took a pin off of his shirt. It was an American flag pin, shaped like a Mickey head. (They have these for all of the WS countries, and I’ve always loved them!) He handed it to me and said, “Give this to your brother, and tell him thanks for me.” I was so touched, and gave him a big hug and one of our CM thank you cards. What an awesome thing to do! The girls still have their “Mr. Hugh” pins on their lanyards because they refused to trade them. I really wish I’d gotten a picture, but I will remember that moment always!

Because it was so late in the afternoon, there were no Soarin’ FPs left, and the Test Track return time was later than I’d wanted to stay on our first day. The only option was Mission:Space, which Rose had said she wanted to go on with her dad. We picked up FPs with a return time of 6:25, and headed to the Seas with Nemo & Friends. The Nemo ride is one of the only things in Epcot that is wheelchair accessible, so Rick took Christian on, while Rose and Grace rode together and Kate went with me. It always takes a while to get on this ride, because apparently there is only one accessible clam-mobile, so we have to wait for it to come around before Christian can board. Our favorite part is at the end, when they sing the song from "Finding Nemo: the Musical." In the biiiiiiiiiig blue world....Afterwards, the girls wanted to get their picture taken in Bruce's mouth. It wasn't very crowded in this area, so we were in and out fairly quickly.

Rose is acting like she's actually being eaten by a shark.


Kate wanted to get in on the act, too, so after waiting for a big group of kids whose parents wanted them each to be in their own photo, we had her picture taken, too. Of course, she wasn't tall enough to stand by herself, so I had to hold her up, which meant I was in the picture, as well!



Kate loves the seagulls outside of this attraction. We always have to spend a few moments there so she can hear them say, “Mine! Mine! Mine!” Although, for some reason, I didn't take her picture in front of her favorite seagulls!


I had picked up 5 FPs for Mission:Space, because we had 5 tickets, but only Rose had talked about riding it. Imagine my surprise when Grace decided that she wanted to go on it, as well! Christian, Kate and I waited while the girls and their dad went off to ride it. I'd gone on it in September, and once was enough for me, thank you very much, so I was happy to have Rick be the one to take them on it. The girls loved Mission:Space, and wanted to try the orange side next time! Since it was getting close to 7 p.m., the time I had wanted to leave the park, we headed for the exit, promising that the girls could return to Mars another day. We gave away our two remaining FPs and headed for the monorail to the TTC.

Up next: the Polynesian!