The Young Commando Takes On The World Aug 15-20 **Updated 10/6** COMPLETE About This Page:

[lissybri]

Great update. Love Andrew's face painting. Can't believe it lasted only fifteen minutes. Sounds like you had a great day even though you got soaked. I hate walking around all wet like that. Can't wait to hear more.

[Meggera]

Another great update. I loved the face paint. It looked really good.

[Lemap760]

After a quick change into dry clothes we headed back out to the MK for the night.

We still hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast and I told Andrew the first thing we were doing was stopping to eat dinner. I had asked Andrew earlier in the day if he was going to be willing to sit down at a restaurant today and he immediately said no. I sadly canceled my ADRs at both Tony’s and Jiko earlier this morning.


Back on topic – we got to the MK and stopped to get Andrew some Mickey ears. He liked the pirate ones but the only had adult sizes. After trying them on we decided they fit well enough but would have to take them off on any fast rides.




Andrew's favorite eating establishment.


You can see more of Andrew's red evil devil eyes from the face paint in this picture.

We went to Casey’s to get some dinner. Hot dogs and apple slices. Not exactly dinner at Jiko, but beggars can’t be choosers.

I found a piece of bench in the cartoon room to plunk Andrew down on while I ordered. He was more than happy to sit there and watch cartoons while I fetched the food. When I came back another family was nice enough to move their food (and feet) so I could sit down. Then the dad started asking me questions like “what’s a corn dog?” and “what’s a chili dog?” He was from England, so I’m not sure if it’s only Americans who do such things with hot dogs. The family left after I shared my overwhelming knowledge of hot dog cuisine. The gentleman was joking that he was getting quite an education this evening. Something tells me he wasn't going to come back running for a corn or chili dog anytime soon.


After dinner we went back to Mickey’s Toon Town and rode Goofy’s Barnstormer a bunch of times. Andrew kept wanting to get the front seat so we kept getting in line. After a few times we ended up second in line so I asked the couple in front of us if it was ok if we sat in the front seat. They were a couple in their 20s and didn’t have any kids with them so I didn’t think they would mind. They didn’t seem too pleased with my request but let us have the front. They were speaking a different language so I’m not sure if they were talking about us later or not. Oh well. I didn't care.


When we had our fill of the Barnstormer Andrew looked at the light up toys for what seemed like forever. At one point he was actually considering a princess one because he liked that her dress spun around. He finally decided on a plain stick that lit up in different colors.

Fantasyland was still a zoo at this point so we decided to walk around and see what had a reasonable wait time. Andrew saw the shooting arcade which took some convincing to come back to later. Which we never did. I tried to get Andrew to go into the Country Bears but he vetoed that idea. We then made our way to Splash Mountain which was showing a long wait time. I told him no way and we went over to BTMRR instead. The wait here was only 15 minutes which was much better. In line Andrew started to complain that he was too tired to stand up and wait in line. I knew then that there was no way we would be staying for EMH. He was fine walking around the park, but when it came time to stand still and wait in a line he would decide his legs were too tired.

Wishes started going off while we were on BTMRR.

I think Andrew wasn’t bothered by the fireworks because there was enough noise from the ride to block most of the sound. When we got off the ride we found a bench to sit on. I had to cover Andrew’s ears while the rest of Wishes went off. I enjoyed Wishes. Watching it from Frontierland by BTMRR was a good view point, and crowded. Seeing it from the ride was awesome too.

After Wishes was done Splash was still showing a long wait although the time had gone down. There was no way Andrew would make it in a 40 minute line if he couldn’t stand in a 15 minute line. So we headed off to Aloha Isle. It was my intention to grab a dole whip and sit around and wait for the PP meet. Andrew wouldn’t wait in line for “ice cream” and didn’t want to just sit and relax. So we missed the other Passporters and started for the front of the park.


The Jungle Cruise was also showing a 30 minute wait so we didn't stop there either. I would have to wait to see the JC in the dark. Andrew was fading so I decided to head back to the resort. There would be no EMH for us tonight. Andrew pooped out at 10:30.


Andrew learned a hard lesson tonight that when you insist on standing up on the bus because it’s fun, someone else is going to take your seat. This made Andrew none too happy, but he was told tough cookies. That's what happens when you won't sit down.



Coming up: Fay is approaching and I finally took some food porn.

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update!! Sorry we missed you at MK.....we must have crossed at some point! And sorry about cancelling all your ADRs (although I love Casey's!! )!! More please

[Meggera]

Another great update. I like the Mickey ears. Cute!

[rhinohunter]

Great updates. Andrew is cute in his new pirate ears. Casey's is a good substitute place to eat. Seems that the kids will always go for a hotdog. Just think if you had gone ot one of the ADRs, you would not have had the opportunity to explain American hotdog culture (options) to the family from the UK. I think that you are now on Monday (the day before Fay officially hits the area.) Looking forward to your next update to see how she messed with your day. DW, DGD and I were in MK on Tuesday.

[chezp]

Another great update.

[DyanKJ130]

Sounds like a wonderful evening! Andrew's ears!! Can't wait to hear more

[Lemap760]

Originally Posted by rhinohunter

I think that you are now on Monday (the day before Fay officially hits the area.) Looking forward to your next update to see how she messed with your day.

I'm actually still on Sunday Aug 17. I've been a little slow with the updates since I can't get DS away from my computer.

[DoraDoug]

You managed to do alot in one day so it's understandable that your DS would poop out so early. Can't wait to hear more.

[Lemap760]

Monday August 18 – Fay approaches.



This morning was a sleep in late day. I think Andrew awoke somewhere around 10:00. I’m glad I let him sleep. He needed it. My idea of sleeping late is getting up around 7. I turned on the news and this is when I first learned about Fay heading in our direction.

Once everyone was up and ready we headed to Epcot for the day. There would be no more park hopping. I found this takes a big chunk of time out of the day.

We got to Epcot a little past noon and had to make a decision. Fast pass TT or Soarin’. We got fast passes for Test Track which were good around 4:30. Then we needed to decide what to do next.

We headed over to Universe of Energy. Andrew was excited to see the dinosaurs. After I warned him how long the attraction was he was still excited about it so in we went. We had a seat on the floor for about 5 seconds before being told to get up and move forward. The CM then gave all the warnings about how long the attraction is and dark and loud, etc. and if you can’t sit for that long then get out now. Well, she didn’t put it quite in those words but that was the gist of the message.



Andrew spent a good portion of the ride with his hands over his ears, so yes the ride is loud. He enjoyed every second of it and it didn’t seem like an attraction that lasts over ½ an hour. He even laughed at Ellen's jokes, which I'm not sure he understood. Sometimes he just laughs to laugh, and lately it's an annoying immitation of SpongeBob kind of laugh.



We went over to the imagination building next. Figment had a short wait. It’s been so long since I’ve been on this I don’t really remember the original version, but I do remember that it was quite as corny as this one. In the smell room I was the only one with common sense to hold my nose. Come on people. You’re in a smell laboratory and a picture of a skunk shows up. What do you think is going to happen? I had to laugh at Andrew and his reaction. “Oh, pee yew a skunk.”
We played around in the imagination pavilion for a long time. Andrew liked conducting music with Figment. The email kiosks weren’t working when we were there. We contemplated getting our picture taken with Lilo and Stitch on the surfboard, but didn’t feel like signing in then waiting. Impatience is kicking in. We have lots more to do.



My brain must have been fried from the sun because I let Andrew get one of the sugar tubes in the gift shop. He wanted the big one. I wanted him to get the small one. We compromised and got the mid-size. It didn’t matter because about ¼ of the way through it the powder became stuck due to the saliva stuck in the tube. Gross, I know. Sorry.



We found our way to The Living Seas and had no line to get in a clam mobile. I like the changes to this attraction. We looked around the tanks a little bit then Andrew played in the Bruce section (or whatever it’s called). I thought I lost him a couple times in here so I just decided to stand by the entrance where he couldn’t get out without my noticing. We did some of the quizzes where Andrew was scoring higher without my help. Shows how much I know when a kid who can’t read yet can get a higher score than I can.




I finally got Andrew out of there to go see Turtle Talk. We had some time before the next show and Andrew was entertaining himself looking at the fish, or so I thought. He decided it was more fun to come and start pinching my hand for some reason. After a few warnings to stop it I had to take him out of line. We sat in the back of the room away from the crowds while he settled down.


Andrew was still in a bit of a mood when we were let into the theatre and refused to sit down front with the other kids. Since we were in the back of the room when they opened the doors we were also in the back of the theatre. I ended up standing up and holding Andrew so that he could see.


All was better with the world once the show was over. Andrew enjoyed himself and I was going to give some lucky chiropractor good business for my sore back from holding a 40 pound kid.


Of course we had to stop in the gift shop and look around. My only rule for souvenirs was that they had to fit in the luggage. Everything Andrew was looking at was way too big. He finally decided on a small Mickey scuba diver and we also grabbed a bag of pretzels.


I hadn’t packed any snacks today. I had thought that maybe Andrew’s lack of eating had come from snacking on the fruit snacks and pretzels that I was bringing every day. Bad decision. Lesson learned. We now had more pretzels to add to the ones back in the room.


It had been pouring rain while we were in the Seas. As we were walking it started to sprinkle again so we made our way to Club Cool for a little refreshment. We needed to wash the pretzels down with something.


I had enough of Andrew’s behavior at Turtle Talk so I played it safe and told him to not try the Beverly. There was only one flavor neither of us really liked, but I can’t remember which one it was.




It's not Beverly he's smiling about.



By now it was pouring outside, again. We ran into Innoventions to wait it out. Well waiting it out turned into over an hour playing video games. I finally got Andrew out of there by telling him the rain stopped and we could go use our fast passes for TT. That did the trick.



More people were standing around the FP entrance to TT waiting for their time to roll around. Good golly people. Go do something with your time.



Andrew was hoping for the front, but that didn’t happen. We were seated with four other gentleman who didn’t find the ride nearly as thrilling as Andrew did. At one point he started screaming and I looked over to realize that it was a happy, having a good time scream. I had to laugh because Andrew had his hands over his ears again, but he was having a great time.



I think our picture is hysterical. Andrew is having fun. I’m laughing at Andrew screaming. The guys riding with us look bored out of their minds.





After the ride Andrew immediately went to play with the cars they have showcased. This is where we encountered the grouchiest CM ever. Andrew had gotten in the car from the passenger side and then wanted to get in the driver’s seat. Well, kids being kids, he stepped on the seat. The CM flipped out that Andrew put his shoes on the leather seat. He didn’t yell at Andrew but growled at me through clenched teeth to not put feet on the seats. I know hundreds of kids must come through here every day. And I know that Andrew can’t possibly be the only kid to have put his shoes on the seat of the car. If they don’t want kids climbing and playing in the cars then don’t have them unlocked or don’t have them in there at all. What did they expect would happen when they put cars on display here? If I had seen this coming I certainly would have prevented Andrew from putting his shoes on the seat of the car.



I quickly grabbed Andrew and headed out of there. It was time for our ADR at Garden Grill anyway. I got Andrew to actually agree to sit down and eat with the promise of corn bread at dinner. Finally a meal that doesn’t involve pizza or hot dogs.



We made our way to the Land and over to the Garden Grill. We waited about 5 or 10 minutes before being seated. Andrew wanted to go up and down the escalators, so we did a once down/up rotation before our buzzer went off.


We were seated on the upper level of the restaurant. I liked sitting up here because it gave us the chance to watch the character interaction on the lower level.
Andrew went to go sit on the inside of the table next to the railing and wanted me to sit next to him. I had to quickly explain that if he sat on the outside part of the table with me on the other side then we would be able to get up when the characters came.



Cornbread and a tomato from the salad



Salad (I had already mixed the dressing in when I remembered to take a picture)



Kids mac & cheese, chicken nuggets, fries, and one big huge serving of ketchup.



Beef, chicken, potatoes, green beans


Catfish. Sorry for the dirty knife in the picture.


Puff pastry desert


Kids cupcake

The character interaction was great at this meal. We saw each character lots of times. Dale had a close call when he went to tickle Andrew and didn’t realize Andrew’s mouth was full of tomato. He almost got a good squirt of tomato juice on his nice clean fur.


















The food here was really good and we liked everything. I was a little worried about what portions they would bring me since we were a party of 1 adult and 1 child. They actually brought me a plate with a piece of each meat, a spoonful of the potato casserole, and a separate plate with the catfish. The server told me he would bring me more of anything I wanted, but I couldn’t even finish that one plate of food. I also wanted to save room for desert. They had also brought me a generous portion of salad. I filled my plate twice and still had some left. I had picked out the cherry tomatoes for Andrew since that’s the only vegetable he is willing to eat. I’m happy to say he gobbled them up with his cornbread while waiting for the rest of his dinner. Andrew’s meal consisted of a plate with mac & cheese, chicken nuggets and fries. I think he filled up on cornbread and tomatoes because he only ate the chicken nuggets and a couple of fries.


Desert was a decorate your own cupcake for Andrew and some kind of puff pastry with custard inside for me. Delicious.


This meal was a nice change from the pizza and hot dogs we had been consuming prior to today.


Tummy’s full we had to decide what to do next. The line for Soarin’ was 90 minutes and the fast passes were gone. No thank you.


I decided to make our way to the World Showcase so Andrew could burn off some energy and I could walk off dinner. We stopped in England to run around in the maze a little bit. Andrew didn’t want to wait for the British Invasion show and wanted to ride something.


Too short for Mission Space and Soarin’s line was too long so I opted to go to Mexico and ride El Rio Del Tiempo. I hadn’t seen this since adding Donald to it. I’m not sure I like the changes.


Next we went to Maelstrom. Andrew asked what it was and I told him it was a boat ride with trolls and Vikings. He responded with “I don’t like trolls. They scare me, but I’ll go on the ride anyway.” The line here was a bit more of a wait than I was expecting. It was about 20 minutes and Andrew was starting in on his “my legs are too tired to stand in line” bit. I lifted him up so that he could sit on the railing with my holding him, but insisted I hold him instead. At this rate I’m going to be putting some chiropractor’s kids through college.


The ride was fun and Andrew enjoyed it despite the scary trolls. The movie wasn’t running so I didn’t have to feel guilty about not staying to watch it. On our way out I saw Andrew smack something with his hand. I got a little panicked thinking he hit something he shouldn’t have, like an alarm or something. The couple behind me said he just hit the button for the handicapped doors. Whew. I’m a bit of a nervous Nellie because Andrew is like most children and likes to touch things when sometimes he shouldn’t.


I was noticing the time and wanted to high tail it out of world showcase before Illuminations started. I really didn’t want to sit on another bench with my hands over Andrew’s ears.


We made our way to the front of the park and this is when I made the worst mistake of the trip. Earlier the line for Spaceship Earth was extremely long so we skipped it. On the way out tonight Andrew asked about going on it. It was about 10 minutes ‘til 9 and there was no line so I agreed. We had a great ride and it interested Andrew. I’m glad to see he’s interested in educational attractions and everything is going splendidly. Until the ride is over. Throughout the last couple of days Andrew thought it was fun to let the moving sidewalks just take him to the exit instead of just walking along and getting there himself. This usually was fine, but now it was past 9:00 and the CMs wanted to close the attraction. The CM actually yelled at Andrew to get moving, after I had already done the same thing.



Then we made our way towards the exit and I had completely forgotten there would be interactive games at the end of the ride. It was closing time in the CMs minds and they were shooing people out. Andrew was not happy about not being able to play with the games. We had major meltdown # 2 of the trip.



I won’t do into all the gory horrible details, but let’s just say it took me an hour to get from Spaceship Earth to the buses. More looks of sympathy from other visitors. Thankfully he calmed down on the bus, although still whining just not nearly as loudly as before.


We finally got back to the hotel room and my parents called to find out what was happening with the approaching Fay. We had a message from the resort that the parks were opening at 8 the next morning in anticipation of the storm. We had plans to go back to the Studios the next day. I just had to see what was happening outside.

[chezp]

Sounds like you had a busy day at Epcot!

[kimberlym322]

Originally Posted by Lemap760

On our way out I saw Andrew smack something with his hand. I got a little panicked thinking he hit something he shouldn’t have, like an alarm or something. The couple behind me said he just hit the button for the handicapped doors. Whew. I’m a bit of a nervous Nellie because Andrew is like most children and likes to touch things when sometimes he shouldn’t.

It happens...my nephews last year (12 and 13 years old then) while at AK triped over a rock when they were playing around in the line to see pooh and all, they ended up falling on the light. The CM was like oh my god...her boss was like no big deal we replace the light at least once a week any way.

Then at MGM (DHS) they touched a display and the dolls had fell off. It happens to the best of us.

[Griffin]

Sorry about the meltdown on the way out! Overall it sounded like a great day, and the pics came out great too!

[Colexis Mom]

Sounds like a pretty good day overall at Epcot!! What a delicious dinner!! Sorry about the meltdown at the end