It’s hump day of our trip! I hate thinking that we have less time let than we already spent here. But there’s nothing better than reliving it, right?
We left our room at 8:30 and got to epcot by 8:40. I love the beach club. They let us in at 8:50 and we went straight to soarin. We were in the first flight. We got there before the people at the front gate RD. I didn’t expect that. After our flight, everyone was hungry (some of us had the hungry hatefuls) and got croissant berry pudding (thanks for the tip @NotThatKevinSmith) and some pastries. One 6 year old doubted the excellence of the bread pudding but wanted the rest of mine after his first bite. The things we do for our kids…
Next we went to SoaT. It was DS and. My first time. Since he is very building/engineering oriented, he super loved it. GM did not join us in the Kuka arm but we did convince her to go on Test Track. This was our first time on the new version because DS and I got sick during our last trip and missed the Epcot day. It was pretty cool. I liked it way more than the earlier version. I realize this isn’t news for most of the readers but, still, I was impressed. Next up was mission space green. I did orange once at least 10 years ago and I don’t think I’m missing anything by going green.
On to world showcase starting in Mexico with the gran fiesta tour. I love that pavilion and I actually really like the boat ride. In fact, we all do. It’s cute, relaxing, and cool (as in temperature). Next on to Norway for a snack (some pretzel covered in frosting and almond slivers- an interesting choice made by my mom but it was pretty good). We rode maelstrom again (this time with a more predictable ten minute standby wait) and headed to China. For my work, I travel to china about once a year to Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province. It’s not exactly an American tourist destination so the girl who sold me my egg roles and strawberry slushie was thrilled to talk to me about her home. I made DS watch the China movie. This was part of my new parenting plan for the day: if DS did 5 things he didn’t want to just to benefit others, he could have a special treat later. This had mixed success. We still encountered a few hysterics throughout the day but they were easily controlled with mention of the pact. Also part of the deal: if I did 5 nice things for him, I could buy myself something. This was a slam dunk. Stay tuned to find out about my souvenir!
Walking on clockwise through the countries we got some Carmel and a kiss from Snow White in Germany, I had a glass of prosecco in Italy, and I got to pick a pearl in Japan. I already racked up my 5 nice things (see above re: SoaT, strawberry slushie, Carmels, and promise of soda with lunch and later at the pool). I got a nice 7mm white pearl with a pinkish tinge and had it set in a little silver ring. I’ll have to do photos later because my ipad isn’t cooperating on them as I’ve mentioned before.
Lunch at morocco (Mediterranean platter was perfect for the three of us to have a light lunch) and crepes in France. I thought I was doing a good job introducing my child to new foods. He likes lots of exotic things and hates “kids food” but had never had a crepe. Oooops. Well, I rectified that today. His response to creeps: good but I’m full. Oh well. Not cool enough I guess.
Ten minutes later, we were in the room arguing about how to divide our time between the pool and jumping on the beds. Pool eventually won and we had another awesome time hanging out together at the pool. Lest you think I have forgotten about GM, she hates getting wet so she was still in epcot probably speaking french to cast members. At precisely 3:30, we returned to our room to clean off and get ready for dinner at beaches & cream. This was delightful. Nothing beats a burger and ice cream. The no way Jose (as recommended by liners) was outstanding. I let my child eat mostly a chocolate milk shake, onion rings, and an ice cream cone for dinner. I needed to solidify my five nice things before we went back to epcot to pick up my ring.
Our evening consisted of a quick trip to epcot to get my pearl jewelry (love it. Can’t wait to wear it until tomorrow) and the impressions de France show that quickly became one of the 5 nice things DS did for everyone else. In the end, he liked it but it was a bit out-dated and the filming was sometimes jumpy and less than smooth. At that pint, DS had fulfilled his 5 nice things quota although I can’t completely remember what they were. I think I let holding the door open for everyone count at some point. I was hoping that success in this task today would bring confidence and love of helping and putting others first tomorrow. I guess we will find out tomorrow. It was DS choice night for what we did next and he wanted to watch fantasmic. I was pretty happy with his overall behavior at this point so I made use of the whole concierge extra FPP in different park thing before we left and got a stealth FPP for rockin roller coaster at 7pm. Committed readers of this series will recall that DS rode this for the first time on Monday and loved it. He was thrilled with his surprise so we took the boat to HS and fulfilled his wildest dreams. Until he wanted a balloon and I said no but we got past it…eventually.
8:30 fantasmic was up next. I saw this one time about 10-12 years ago and thought it was good, not great. Tonight I have to say that it has definite advantages as far as the night time spectaculars go. First there are seats, second there are bathrooms and refreshments with alcohol readily available, and third they keep you busy with trivia and silly singing competitions while you wait. I was still a little lost on the Pocahontas part but I really did love it overall. We got out quickly and planned to watch the fireworks from just outside the park. This was ultimately vetoed by a tired and hot 6 year old so we took the friendships back to our resort and headed upstairs. I did stop by hurricane Hannah’s to get a captains Mai tai which is good but sweet.
That’s about it, folks. A long day at. Lots of epcot. Tomorrow is a choice morning, that means DS can choose an activity. He’s been wavering between pool time and AK but I think he’s settled on pool time for tomorrow morning. This could be good for our early trip to MK to see the FoF parade but now I’m jumping ahead and I’m way too tired to speculate on tomorrow. Peace out, friends. I’M going to sleep!
Keep on posting!