[Singermom]

Day 3, Part 2 - An Evening of Adventure

Cast Members:

Me – age 38, WDW planner – 6th trip to WDW
MIL – age 62 – many trips to WDW
DS7 – older ds, age 7 and ¾, 3rd trip to WDW
DS4 – younger ds, age 4, 3rd trip to WDW


Now, although the day of rest had been imperative for ds4, I was feeling a bit bad for ds7 who would have enjoyed going out to the parks. If dh had been with us, it would have been a no-brainer….one of us would have taken ds7 out for the day while the other stayed back at the hotel with ds4. However, I didn’t think MIL would be comfortable on her own with ds4 and admittedly, I wasn’t all that keen on leaving ds4 alone with her. She has the habit, as most asian mothers do, to feed people whatever their disposition or mood. Even if I gave strict instructions not to give him certain foods, I could not trust that she would follow them. I suggested that she go out for a while with ds7 – if not to the parks, then perhaps to a movie – The Incredibles had just opened. They could take a taxi for convenience too. DS4 was seeming better and when I asked if he was interested in going to Epcot, he showed a lot of interest. Even though it wasn’t my first choice, I suggested that we all go together to Epcot, I would rent a stroller and MIL and ds4 could sit and relax while ds7and I did a few attractions. MIL seemed to like that idea a lot better so we got ready to head to the parks. It was already past five and the sun had nearly set by now so we took along some light jackets.

We took the car and I dropped off MIL and the boys near the entrance and then I parked in the AAA diamond area – this was fairly convenient to the entrance. DS4 wasn’t looking all that great when I returned and I was beginning to regret my decision to bring him to the parks. We trudged slowly to the turnstiles as MIL had trouble walking. Since we would only be at the park for a few hours, MIL didn’t think it was worthwhile to rent the ECV.

Our first stop was Mission Space. This was yet another first for MIL and despite some initial misgivings, she ended up greatly enjoying this ride. It is a favourite of mine and of ds7. Next we decided to hit a few attractions in Futureworld before they closed at 7. I thought ds4 would like the Figment ride so we headed there first. As we walked through the queue, ds4 seemed to perk up. By the end of the ride, he seemed nearly himself again. We then went over to the Land pavilion to grab a quick dinner in the food court. I had originally made a ps for garden grill but knew ds4 didn’t have the appetite or energy for it today. The food in the Sunshine Fair was okay – ds7 had a barbecued pork sandwich he enjoyed, MIL had a stuffed baked potato and I ate the remains of ds4’s dinner of chicken rice soup and plain baked potato which he hardly touched. After dinner we walked back towards the dancing fountain and parked ds4 and MIL there.

DS7 and I raced to test track – hoping that either the standby line was not too long or that fastpasses would be available. It’s such along path to Test Track – I wish they would post the wait times closer to the main path. From what I could make out – it was about 25 minutes standby and no fast passes left. With MIL and ds4 waiting for us, we decided that wasn’t feasible so we turned towards Mission Space. To our surprise, the standby time was only 10 minutes. I had warned ds7 about the potential ill-effects of the ride but he was still anxious to try it. While I was a bit apprehensive myself (especially since we had just eaten dinner) curiousity also got the better of me. We took our place in the queue and struck up a conversation with the family in front of us. Apparently they had already been on the ride and did not feel it was too intense. DS7 and I were very impressed with just the queue area – it is all very realistic! Even with the assurances from the family in front of us, it was a bit intimidating to continually hear and see warning signs about the ride. It was finally our turn and we were hustled into the ‘briefing chamber’ and given our instructions. Then we lined up outside the bay leading to our capsules. I had the navigator role and ds7 was the pilot. The highlight of this attraction is the blast-off…..that was a fantastic experience! I followed the instructions about looking straight ahead at all times and experienced minimal motion effects – it feels pretty much like any motion simulator such as Star Tours. I was slightly dizzy and off-balance after exiting the capsule but that feeling passed very quickly. DS7 absolutely loved the ride and proclaimed it the favourite of the trip. We sent off an e-video after the ride and then spent some time browsing in the gift shop. I had called MIL after the ride to let her know we would be a few minutes later than our planned rendez-vous so she took the opportunity to do a little more shopping!

When we met up again, I thought we might slowly head out but MIL was very interested in seeing Illuminations which had viewed and enjoyed her last trip. I actually had not seen it as it fell too late in our previous trips fro the kids. I expressed my doubts to her about the walking distance – ds4 was okay in the stroller but MIL had no ECV. She insisted she would be all right. We walked towards world showcase but by the time we reached the bridge near Future world, she couldn’t go any further. MIL found a bench to sit on and the kids and I went a bit further into world showcase. From our vantage point we were able to see all low fireworks but not the globe very easily. I really enjoyed the music to this show! However, Fantasmic is still my favourite night time show. With the last bang, we quickly turned around and headed back towards MIL – fortunately hooking up with her quickly in the crowd. Since my car was parked fairly close, we all walked to it but it was apparent that MIL could barely make it.

We all pretty much hit the sheets as soon as we returned. I went down for a quick Mara run of coffee for the next morning, juice and milk and then I also retired for the night. After all, we planned to get up early for EE at MGM the next day!