whoSEZ & boBmouse: It all started w/ a Mousefest; 1/26 -- photo, TR complete, what's happened since! About This Page:

[Tara O'Hara]

I am so loving this trip report!! You guys are so cute!!

[stretch2864]

What a fun trip report! I've been thoroughly enjoying both sides of the story! I'm looking forward to the conclusion!

[luvnwdwgal]

I am just loving this!! You guys are so sweet!! More, more!!

[Belle*]

More please!!!

[Colexis Mom]

Just catching up on your fantastic report Sandy and Bob What a great time you had/are having!

Can't wait for more

[Jillybean]

Bob, for some reason I don't think you'll have to worry about doing things "solo" again.

Jill

[rescuesk]

This whole report is soooo nice....

[JoanW]

I keep thinking some of the music from Cinderella is going to start playing.

[chezp]

Another great update both of you - I hope there'll be more soon!

[DrDolphin]

Great updates - both of you -- hope more is coming soon!!

[whoSEZ]

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

You won't believe what we had to buy today!

Here's where I really stopped keeping notes. Frankly, I lost interest because Bob wasn't there any more. (Kidding, people!)

We got up and did the usual thing and decided that Lesley would leave for Epcot first so she could ride both Test Track and Mission Space -- neither of which I care about (yes, that's right, I said it). We planned to meet up at The Land a little later. It turned out that she was able to ride Mission Space twice and Test Track once, all with little or no lines. She also bought some souvenirs and things for her scrapbook, though I can't remember exactly what.

When I arrived at the Land, I went down to the food court and bought a muffin and some milk for breakfast ($3.91) and sat down near the "Living With the Land" queue to wait for Lesley. I'm not sure how long I sat there, but there was a "0" wait the whole time, and I know I didn't see more than a dozen people in line at any time. When Lesley arrived, we walked right onto a boat and took off for our tour of the greenhouses. I thought our CM was a little on the boring side.

Next was the Living Seas, where we saw a very UN-boring CM who regaled us with his life story and all the things his Mama taught him. I thought he was maybe in his 40s, but it turned out he was a grandfather many times over and was closer to 70. Listening to him made the wait in line go a lot faster!!

We wandered through all the Nemo exhibits for a while, then got in line for "Turtle Talk with Crush." What a great show! I don't want to give it away in case you haven't heard about it, but trust me, it was well worth standing in line to see! The show uses amazing technology, and the whole audience (kids and big kids) loved it.

We had plans for lunch with Ann and George at the San Angel Cantina, so we wandered toward the World Showcase to wait for them. It turned out they'd arrived earlier and went farther into the World Showcase before coming back to where we were waiting. It was awfully cold to sit outside and eat, but we enjoyed each other's company as usual. The three of them (especially Ann and Lesley) took great pleasure in ganging up on me.

After lunch, we asked a CM to take a picture of the four of us together, then Lesley and I went to Norway while George and Ann went ahead to where they'd left off earlier. Lesley and I worked our way around the world showcase, visiting attractions and shops all the way. We ended up buying quite a few small things for our scrapbooks -- postcards and other flat souvenirs. My favorite one was a small woven rug in the colors of the Mexican flag. It's going to look so cool on our Mexico pages!

When we got around to Canada, it was time for Off Kilter -- a first for Lesley. I was surprised to see spots in the front row, so we sat down to wait until the show, not realizing until a few minutes later that Ann and George were in the front row on the other side. Ann is a huge fan of the band, and she was videotaping the whole show. Every time I looked over at her, she had the camera up to her eye and a huge smile on her face -- she was having fun!!

Lesley and I had Candlelight Processional dinner reservations at San Angel, so we headed back over to the Mexico pavillion. We were a little early, so we shopped for a bit, then checked in. We had two servers, one who was earning his ears. We shared a plate of nachos and our entrees came before we'd finished the nachos. We also had dessert, but by that time, I was too full to finish it.

After dinner, we decided to make our way slowly around the World Showcase (again), this time doing as many indoor things as we could. It was cold, people! We stopped to see the acrobats in China (those kids are beyond amazing!) and then kept moving, trying to stay warm. Pretty soon, we saw a woman pushing a cart full of blankets -- beautiful plaid ones that looked really warm! -- and we decided we'd probably like having one during the CP. I still can't believe I had to buy a blanket in Florida, but we were glad we had it.

We got to the America pavilion with plenty of time to spare, so we decided to get some hot chocolate at the counter service place and wait inside, where it was warm! It looked like there were quite a few people with CP badges on, so we weren't the only ones with that idea.

We ended up with pretty good seats for CP (I think we were in the sixth or seventh row, pretty close to the middle), and we were very glad we had that blanket! The wind was blowing from every direction. The show itself was beautiful, as always, but toward the end, I kept looking at the program, anxious for the last song so we could go back to the hotel and warm up!! Eartha Kitt was our narrator, and she was really good! Very expressive. Near the end, though, she said something like "Martin Luther King said it best: 'Can't we all just get along?'" The only problem is, Martin Luther King didn't say that; Rodney King did! The message still remains, though, doesn't it??

After the show, we hightailed it back to the buses, noticing as we went that there were empty spots everywhere, and it was only about 15 minutes before IllumiNations. We even noticed that the bridge between France and England was nearly empty -- not knowing until later that there was a PassPorter meet happening on that very bridge at that very moment! So close and yet so far.

We didn't have to wait long for a bus, but after we got on the bus, it sat there for a long time, waiting for more people to come. It didn't really make much difference to us -- we were warm, and at that point, that's all that mattered. When we got back to the room, we did some initial packing, the usual TR notes, and went to bed. An incredibly cold but really good final full day!

Memories of Our Seventh Day

The weather today was: Cold and windy.
The best thing today was: Lesley: Mission Space (walk-on!); Sandy: the new Crush attraction at Living Seas.
The worst thing today was: knowing it was our last full day, and the weather.
The funniest thing today was: Crush (DUDE!) and the fact that we had to buy a blanket in Florida.
Today we tried: Lesley -- Mission Space and Test Track; Sandy -- ?? (apparently, it was an unadventurous day for me -- I can't think of anything new I did that day!)
And the result was: Lesley -- loved both!!; Sandy -- ??
The most magical moment today was: Candlelight Processional -- always magical!

Meals and Snacks

Breakfast: Sandy -- food court in the Land, $3.91; Lesley -- none.
Lunch: San Angel Cantina -- Sandy, $7.86; Lesley -- $10.10
Dinner: CP dinner package (prepaid), San Angel Inn -- $80.92 for both
Snacks: Sandy -- mints, $3.20; hot chocolate, $1.80

[LizardCop]

Sandy, great update!!! Sorry you had to come to Florida to buy a blanket and freeze

[Jillybean]

Brrrr . . . you're making me cold just reading this!

Great day at Epcot!

Jill

[pparm]

I just read all of this report. Love the way you decided to do it--with two people writing. I'm excited as everyone else is that a new friendship seems to have been made!!

Paula

[Courtney]

Now we know if Sandy, who lives in a place that I would never even dare DREAM of living, because it is so cold, is cold at WDW, it really must have been cold. Brrrr!!

And you don't care about Test Track?? Blasphemy!!