Our 2nd Trip to WDW in 5 Months: A Mini Magical Gathering About This Page:

[Tara O'Hara]

Wow, Jennifer! You guys sure aren't sit still people!! It sounds like everyone is really enjoying themselves!! I am looking forward to reading more! Keep

[Colexis Mom]

Just catching up on your report Jennifer Sounds like you are all having a great time Hope you get to share the pictures soon Keep it coming

[DouglasE]

You are travellers after my own heart. I always try to jam pack as much activity into my trip as I possibly can. Sleep? I can sleep at home. This is Disney!

[loobyoxlip]

Wow, Jenn, sounds like a great time. Isn't the parade at AK just the best? I agree, we will always make it a priority to see this when we go. LOVE IT!! Thanks for the TR. It's great!!

[Mel & Richard]

I really enjoyed hearing about your day at AK & MGM. I have never seen either of those parades. I think we are going to have to try to make time this trip.

Mel

[luvnwdwgal]

How cool to be related to a character CM! Your breakfast sounded like so much fun!!! Looking forward to more!!

[Annabel]

Great report so far, I'm really enjoying it. I've yet to see these parades but will definitely be making time for them the next trip! Look forward to reading more.

Annabel

[Jennifer2003]

<font color="blue"> Hey all...I"m still working on the pictures, but my report is done, so I'll post that and if I can get the pictures working, I'll post those after the trip. Thanks for reading! </font>



The Flower &amp; Garden Festival and the Workout of a Lifetime



Sunday May 9, 2004



On Friday we learned that Al was off all day Sunday and Chris, Kelly and Al made it sound like they were taking off on their own and John and I weren’t included. At first, I was a little put off, but decided to take advantage of true alone time with my husband! (We later learned we were allowed to go with them, but still separated for the day.)



We woke up at 7 and both managed to get ready pretty quickly. We got to Epcot around 9:30 and scored a great parking spot in the Amaze section of the lot, really close to where the kennel is. We made it thru the turnstiles and we were back at Epcot! We spent about 2 and a half days in Epcot on our honeymoon. We both just love the fact that you can walk around, not ride a THING and still have a great time. That’s exactly what we did this trip!



We had breakfast at the Sunshine State Fair in the Land Pavilion. We shared a cookie and a croissant and sat near the fountain, looking up at the hot air balloons. I debated riding the Living With the Land ride, but was a little nervous about it, so we skipped it. (On a side note, here is something that bothers me about myself. I was at WDW when I was 14 and my parents made me go on everything, whether I wanted to or not. I know some of the things were scary for me, and I think somehow I remember that now and that is why I refuse to ride stuff. I really don’t understand how the Haunted Mansion is my favorite ride. So I told John this trip I wouldn’t ride things I wasn’t comfortable with until I need to be brave for my children. Ok enough about that.) After we ate, we questioned the lady at the Garden Grill about the Ice Cream Social. She said there were times open, but couldn’t make a Priority Seating for us, so we decided to try to get back there at 3PM.



We headed towards the Living Seas after this and saw the Nemo display outside. This wasn’t here on our last trip, I think it opened two weeks later. Nemo was out rolling around, and I took a picture with him. I started to go into the building and then changed my mind. I just wasn’t in a very “hydrolatory” place at that moment. WE headed a different way and saw a Coral Reef character standing around. It was freaking people out, including me, but I got a picture with it anyway! It was so colorful!



I checked my Times Guide and found out that the Wonders of Life Pavilion was closed, which was disappointing because I really wanted to see Cranium Command! We decided to head into the World Showcase and started with Canada. I love the Canada Pavilion. We took a look thru all the shops and looked at the mountain range and waterfall. I took pictures of the Canadian geese that we poised over the little lake in the gardens.



Next up was the UK-another great pavilion. There were no activities in this pavilion til later in the morning, so we just walked thru the toy store and headed out back into the gardens. I took all sorts of pictures of the little buildings. WE got a little hungry, so we walked up to the Yorkshire County Fish Shop and got an order of chips and a coke to share.



John suggested we walk thru the International Gateway and go see what was happening at the Boardwalk, which we had never been to. A family rode by us on a surrey bike and looked like they were having so much fun! I asked if we could rent a surrey bike and John was all for it. We walked down the boardwalk to the bike rental place and filled out the waiver papers, got our riding lesson and we were off! I was the driver and John sat in the passenger seat. This is how we got our workout. For those of you that have never done this, there are two bridges you have to go over while you ride the bikes, one near Epcot, the other near the Swan and Dolphin. We made two laps around the water in a half hour and the second trip was very hard to get up over the bridges! For $18.00, this was a different sort of Disney fun for us and we are really glad we got to do this. John took some great pictures along the way of all the resorts, which were BEAUTIFUL. The Yacht and Beach Clubs were so pretty! I wish I had the MOOHLAH to stay there!



About an hour and a half later, when we were done with the Boardwalk, we headed back into Epcot and picked up the World Showcase in France. On our last trip, this was where I caught up with Belle and the Beast and was the happiest Big Kid ever. This trip Princess Aurora was in France, and I’ve never seen Sleeping Beauty so I didn’t wait in line for her. When she was done, Belle came out! I got my picture with her, but she wasn’t the same warm and friendly Belle I met last trip. Oh well! After this we ran thru the little bakery they have here and I got another croissant and John had some caramel crème thing. I've decided by now that I LOVE the croissants at WDW!



The lack of sleep before and during the trip was starting to catch up to me, so we just kind of strolled thru the next few pavilions. We saw the Japanese drummers, the US Fife &amp; Drum Corp, The Voice of Liberty (which were amazing!), the Living Statue in Italy and the little kid gymnasts in China. John got his favorite, the red bean ice cream while we were in China. ( I had a coke, they didn’t have croissants LOL) We zipped thru Germany, Norway and Mexico and decided we were done for the day. I wasn’t feeling too hot (actually I was TOO HOT which was causing the problem) so seeing that Test Track was closed (for John not me) we decided to leave. It was about 6:15PM.



We ventured off property and past DTD to the Crossroads shopping center. We headed to Perkins where we knew we could get a good meal. I had my usual pancakes and John ordered a steak. Our waitress was really nice and we talked to her about moving to Florida, how she was faring, and if she knew how to get to Celebration. She got us directions from her manager. Then the food came, and John’s steak looked like a pork chop. He tasted it and couldn’t tell if it was steak or a pork chop. He managed to eat the whole thing, and in the last bite declared “I don’t think that was steak, I think it was a pork chop!” It was good, so he didn’t say anything about getting the wrong dinner. :rotfl:



We left and went to find a parking spot at DTD Marketplace. By the time we found a spot, I was too tired and just wanted to get back to the room. We got back to the resort at 8:15, just after the Survivor: All Stars Finale started. We watched the whole thing, debating to order a pizza the whole time, and saw Amber get her million and her engagement ring. (I can't find a Smiley for Predictable and Cheesy) We both fell asleep after the reunion show.



UP next: Finally seeing my Mermaid and our meal at the 50’s Prime Time Café.



<font color="blue"> WE never did make it back for the Ice Cream Social. Oh well...we're AP holders...there's always next time! </font>

[luvnwdwgal]

Nice update Jennifer! Hope you overcome your fear of the rides someday cause you're missing out on a lot of good stuff!

[JenS]

So glad to hear you had a nice time at Epcot - it is our favorite park as well! And, what fun renting a surrey bike at the spur of the moment like that. Sometimes it's those unplanned things that are so fun and memorable.

Hope to see some photos....

[ilovelilo]

Thanks for the update! We like Epcot too, for the same reason--even though we like to ride stuff, it's also nice just to walk around there! Some people don't like Epcot because they think it's too educational or something, but we love it!

I hope you're able to get your pictures up, too!

[goofy4goofy]

Great updates Jennifer!!! Back in 1998, I knew two guys who were very good "friends" with Goofy at Breakfastosaurus! How cool is that! I wonder if Al knew them??

Kelly

[Tara O'Hara]

Whoo-Hoo, Jennifer!! A nice day at Epcot! I think those surrey bikes look way cool and have yet to try them. I think you've convinced me to do so next time! Cool update!

[Annabel]

Another great update! Look forward to reading more.

Annabel

[buckysmom]

Glad you and DH got some nice time together.
Had to laugh at your Survivor summary...since I felt the same way!