We stopped in the UK for a photo op. The gardens around here are so pretty!
We got to Epcot a little before the park opened at 9:00, and our plan was to head straight to Test Track since we didn't have a Fast Pass for it. The wait time already said 30 minutes but they definitely didn't have to wait that long. I wasn't sure SC would like it, but she came running out saying "Best ride ever!!" She actually said that about everything she rode that day. :) I strolled John around, took some PhotoPass pics, and then he had a dirty diaper so we headed to the baby care center. He almost never has blow outs at home, but he had one every day except one there and had to change outfits so much! So after an outfit switcheroo, we headed back to TT to meet our crew.
always with those eyes closed, posing in front of the bedazzled pink car they designed
SC running out yelling "Best ride ever!"
My buddy and I just hanging out while the other were on their ride.
I got a PhotoPass photographer to take our picture, but most of them turned out terribly (this was after I tried to lighten it up some).
After Test Track, the wait time for Soarin' said 15 minutes, so we headed there even though two of us had Fast Passes for later in the day. John took the girls in and I stayed outside with baby John while he was asleep in the Ergo. We could've gone in with them and gotten a rider switch pass, but since we had a FP for later, I decided not to. The weather was cool, and it was nice to just sit outside and enjoy the scenery and people watching.
He got lots of compliments on his cute booties that you could see sticking out. :)
This was their first time to ride the new version of Soarin', and they all loved it! We then tried to meet Joy and Sadness, but the line was too long. So we went to ride The Seas with Nemo instead. After Nemo we did Turtle Talk with Crush. We had a FP for that later in the day, but we never used it. I think Turtle Talk with Crush is so cute, and Curran was thrilled that he picked her to talk to right away without her even raising her hand! She had never gotten called in before, so she was super excited! SC sat with me in the back because the last time we were there, she got completely freaked out when the whale smashes itself against the screen. :)
After Turtle Talk, John and Sal were scheduled for a FP for the new Frozen ride, Frozen Ever After. C and I were scheduled for Soarin' at an awkward time around lunch, so I moved it to after dinner since we were eating near there at Garden Grill. Ok...so let me stop here and explain how the Fast Passes at Epcot work for those who don't know. You each get one FP for a ride in Tier 1 and two FP for rides in tier 2. So all the good rides are in tier 1: Soarin', Test Track, and Frozen Ever After- so you only get one of those. Well in order to be able to get more than one, I was planning on using rider switch for Soarin' and Frozen because those are listed as rides that have Rider Switch. SO... SC and John had Frozen, and C and I were going to ride it using Rider Switch, and she and I had Soarin', so John and Sal were going to ride that one using Rider Switch, meaning all four of us basically got fast passes for both. It's a great little system if you no how to use it.
So we all walk to Norway to check SC and John in for their FP at Frozen. I told the cast member that we wanted to use rider switch, and she said no problem and for us to come back when we were ready to ride. They did not give John a rider switch lanyard to be exchanged for a ticket like they normally do. Curran was not happy with the arrangements {and that SC would get to ride it twice since you can use rider switch for up to 3 people}, so she grumpily walked off with me to feed baby John. We sat in the outdoor seating of a restaurant to feed him, and then went back and met John and Sal. We went to the cast member and said we were ready to ride and she told us to scan our Magic Bands to show our fast passes. I tried to explain to her that we didn't have FP and that we wanted to use RS. We argued and argued and I ultimately lost, so poor C never got to ride it and I was NOT happy about the situation at all. As best I could tell {she was Norwegian so there was a bit of a language barrier}, was since Frozen doesn't have a height requirement, RS doesn't work like it does on all other rides. That still doesn't make sense to me because then there is no point offering or calling it rider switch. The wait time for the ride at that point was 40 minutes, and in hindsight we should've just waited because it was never any shorter. At one point it was up to 105 minutes. Ugh. Oh well.
Here are John and Sallie on the ride.
We decided to go meet Anna and Elsa at their new place in Norway {they used to be at the Magic Kingdom}.
While we were over there, we decided to ride the Gran Fiesta tour in Mexico because this is a boat ride in the air conditioning. :) And we had never done it before so I wanted to check it off our list. Afterwards, we walked through World Showcase and stopped in China to meet Mulan!
She asked the girls if they were going to visit the royal matchmaker that day, and SC replied that she was. :) So then Mulan told her she needed to be quiet and respectful and hope they made a good choice. :)
Then we headed towards France for lunch. SC was pretty grumpy and only wanted ice cream, so she got that while the rest of us ate. Sometimes {and especially at Disney} you just gotta give in. Then we walked to the UK to meet Alice in Wonderland, but her line was closed, so we met Mary Poppins.
She was lecturing them on how to obey their parents, tidy their rooms, help around the house, etc. Notice who she was looking at the whole time. Ahem.
The girls were really wanting to meet Belle in France {her line was too long earlier} and she was coming back at 2:50, so John took the girls to get in line at 2:30 so they could be the first, and I stayed behind and found a shady, hidden spot in a garden in UK to feed baby John.
Words cannot express how great and happy he was. I absolutely loved having him as my little sidekick.
Then I grabbed myself a beer from the UK and headed to meet them in France where they were waiting on Belle. I was kind of annoyed that the photographer got held up and didn't walk up when Belle did. I didn't want to hold up the line, so I just used my cell phone to take pics.
You can see Belle looking at the photographer thinking "get your a$$ over here" while sweetly talking to the girls. :)
They were excited to show her their Belle dolls!
Then we went to Germany to meet Snow White. She was on a break so we got in line. SC was again testy so she stayed in the stroller while Curran met her. But Snow White was sweet to wave and blow a kiss to SC. :)
Then we headed back to the character spot to meet Joy and Sadness. The line was shorter, but it moved super slow. All the other parents were a bit jealous of John and my beers that we had in line. :) I'm glad we waited though because it was a GREAT meet and greet! Joy was so spunky and fun {as you would imagine} and danced and twirled with the girls. Sadness was hilarious and latched right onto SC's kitty {Marie from Aristocats} and was being so funny with it. The character handler was saying that Sadness was a crazy cat lady and it was just cute. The photographer took 25 pictures!! {as opposed to the normal 3-5} John loved it too and wanted us to all hop in for a picture.
SC wanted to meet Baymax, who meets right across the hall, but John told her the line was too long{it wasn't}, and took them to get a snack instead. Then we went to our FP at Spaceship Earth. Something happened right when we got in the car so we were stalled for a while. As soon as we started moving, I fed baby John. It's so dark in there that I figured it would be the perfect spot. But I totally forgot that they take your picture at the beginning, so I was freaking out that I was nursing him and not covered up! They post your pics on the screen outside the ride! Thankfully it was just my face. :)
They had art installations all throughout the park, and we missed a couple of fun ones. But the girls were fascinated by these living statues. I don't know how they didn't sweat all that paint off!
We had a 5:30 dinner reservation at the Garden Grill, which was our first time eating there. We had a few minutes to spare so we rode Living with the Land which is right below it. Then we got checked in for dinner. Garden Grill slowly spins around and you can see scenes from Living with the Land. They also use vegetables that are grown in the green house below which the girls thought was super neat. The food was just ok and it was REALLY expensive! We didn't get the dining plan on this trip so the bills gave me a slight panic each time they arrived. It's all you can eat, but the only thing we got more of were the rolls. The girls hardly ate anything. People rave about this place, but honestly we were not super impressed.
Chip! (Sal with her eyes closed per usual)
Pluto was doing something with one of our straws. I can't remember what, but the girls thought it was hilarious.
Then Mickey came by!
Then Dale! We had to wait a long time for him, so SC was over it and didn't want to get back out of the booth.
Then Mickey came by a second time and gave Curran a little Eskimo kiss. :)
After dinner, Curran and I had our FP for Soarin'. Baby John was awake and I could tell was starting to get grumpy, so I was a bit worried leaving him with John. C and I ended up being in a line for a while, and when we got off the ride BJ was screaming. I felt awful!!! He was just tired, and sweet John is not super great at comforting him when he gets that out of sorts. So I got him in the Ergo and he settled down.
Epcot was having the very first International Festival of the Arts, and we had reserved tickets to the free Disney on Broadway concert at 8pm that night. They offered dinner packages with several restaurants, Garden Grill being one of them, so it worked out that we were already doing that one, so we were able to get reserved seating for the show. We went to the American Pavillion where the show was. At that point I was wondering if it was a mistake. The girls were tired {and clearly so was the baby}. They sat us in our seats in the covered section- people without tickets, which was the large majority, were seated in the open area. I ended up moving to the back with baby John because it was loud. They had two world-renowned Broadway stars who sang songs from The Little Mermaid, Tarzan, Beauty and the Beast, Mary Poppins, and the new Frozen play that will open on Broadway next year, I believe. I was thrilled when John and the girls said they LOVED it!
We decided not to stay for fireworks even though it was 8:30 and Illuminations is at 9:00. We left and walked back to the hotel. We {well I} had a lot of packing to do before we left the next day.
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