June 6, 2014 - Epcot and exploring Art of Animation

Norah still in Thursday's outfit and sleepy!

Friday was another early morning. We had 8:10 breakfast reservations at Akershus. I was excited to get into Epcot early and snag a few pics with a mostly empty park.

The bus wait this morning was one of the longest. Again, we saw the previous Epcot bus leave as we were getting to the stop. While we were in line we saw costumed people dressed for Star Wars Weekend at Hollywood Studios, so that was a fun distraction.

The bus ride was uneventful and the kids were excited to see Spaceship Earth. Norah kept yelling, "A Ball! A Ball!"


We were waiting in the character breakfast line when Nick looked down and realized his magic band was missing. This is after on the way to the bus he asked if I had Wesley's (I did) and I KNOW he had it on because I asked jokingly after he checked on Wesley's... so somehow he lost it between our room and EPCOT. He went to track his steps with no luck. He was waiting at guest relations and called me to tell me it didn't open until 8. Ugh. We were let in at about 7:45 as it's a long walk back to the World Showcase, which is where we had breakfast. The kids and I went in and I told Nick to meet us there. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't annoyed. So much for pictures before the crowds!

So neat to see Spaceship Earth- need to visit Epcot at night next time!

The kids were delighted to see the ducks!

Wes asked to have his picture taken here with Norah. He refused sunglasses and Norah threw hers off. Just a little bright!

So, I talked him into moving a bit so they weren't squinting.  Epcot has lots of pretty fountains and such. I was walking nice and slow hoping Nick would get helped early and catch up.

We made it to Norway. We attempted to check in, but they told me to come back when Nick was here. There was a photo at the door, so I guess that made sense.  I took both kids to the bathroom by myself which was interesting since Norah doesn't walk, but we managed. Just as we were done washing hands, an out-of-breath Nick called and said he would be there soon. He definitely ran the whole way because the person at guest services said after ten minutes after our reservation we wouldn't get in, which wasn't true. We were already super tired since it was our 5th day in the park, so this didn't help him any! 

Anyway, we checked in and met Belle. 

We ended up with almost exactly the same princesses as the day before, which I knew could happen, but I was hoping for some variety. The only difference is Thursday we had Jasmine and Friday it was Belle. It ended up being okay because Wesley was excited to see his princess friends again.

 I had a picture mat for characters whom we saw a second time to sign. It worked out well and I bought frames for them, but I need to get some pictures. Cinderella was first. She signed by Mickey and Minnie because she said mice make the best friends. She was very in character and so sweet. Wes was delighted to see her. He said, "Mom, look, it is Cinderella!" He didn't mind that we already met her yesterday at all.

Ariel was next.

Ariel was very sweet and was Norah's favorite at this breakfast.

We had seen Aurora the day before at the castle and Tuesday with Anna and Elsa, still was was excited to see her again, too. Aurora wasn't very chatty today and seemed pretty nervous. Maybe she was new?

Wes was happy to see Snow White again. Norah wasn't loving her today.

 A neat thing with Akershus is that they did a parade around the room with the princesses. Wes wanted to join but only if I followed. He gave Snow White a big hug at the end. Of course I didn't get a pic. I need to get that movie for them as Wes really liked her both times and loved riding mine train and seeing the dwarves working.

I almost forgot the food pics... This restaurant was a little different. There were bagels and cheeses on a buffet, then our server, who was AWESOME, by the way, brought other food family style, including scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and cheesy potatoes. Wes asked for waffles and our server brought them, too. So nice! The potatoes were super delicious. We had leftovers of everything except those!

Wes was happy to enjoy Mickey waffles one more time on our trip. I totally need a Mickey waffle iron, right?

So, since Akershus and Cinderella's Royal Table were so similar, which one did I prefer? It depends is my answer... Nick preferred the food at Akershus, hands down. I liked both. The princesses' interactions were better at Cinderella's Royal Table overall. If you do the dining plan, CRT takes 2 credits, Akershus takes 1. Both include pictures delivered to you before you leave. I don't think we will do the dining plan...more on that later. I really liked seeing Belle in her ball gown as my kids were grumpy at Enchanted Tales with Belle, but how can you top eating at the castle? Also, this kids loved their gifts- wishing star for each, sword for Wes and wand for Norah. So, yeah, I have no strong opinion ...? We booked both because I thought it my kids were afraid of characters at least the face characters wouldn't be as intimidating. I probably wouldn't book both the same trip again unless I had a princess-obsessed child. Even then, I would try to break them up a bit more. 

After breakfast (we did the whole get your check and pay at the start again), we rushed to Test Track. Nick and Wes got in line after we grabbed a child swap pass. Norah and I had some time to kill as we didn't have a fast pass. Epcot and HS have theirs tiered, so it's harder to pick. We decided to use our Tier 1 on Soarin and Nick and Wes would deal with the line. It was the longest line we had to wait in... 20 or 30 minutes. This would have been better if we could have checked in for breakfast on time, but, oh well. 

This was one of Nick's favorite attractions and Wes liked it a lot, too. There's an area to design a car and then you can see how it does in the driving test.

Since Norah and I had some time, we then headed to the character spot. I needed to see her with Minnie Mouse one more time! There was no line.

 Mickey was first at the character spot. Norah was happy to see him, too!

Goofy was next. Norah was still scared of him. He is SO tall. So, we skipped him. Goofy looked sad but Norah wouldn't even wave. Then, Minnie was last. Look how delighted Norah was! I don't even care that this was the 4th time we met her! Of course, Minnie is also my favorite....

I so wish she was looking at the camera or at least at Minnie...

After this, we still had some time, so we walked over to The Sea with Nemo and Friends. We were all going to do this later, but I hated just sitting on a bench with Norah while Wes did rides, so we rode. There was no line, and it was a cute little ride. It had some neat stuff in the line area, too, that we didn't see later since we were in the FP line.

Then, it was time to find Nick and Wes. We still got back before they were done, but we only waited a minute or two before the boys came off the ride. 

I decided to wait until after lunch to do TT with Wes because it was time for our FP to Soarin', which is the ride I most wanted to ride at Epcot. Wes and I went first. Norah and Nick did a stroller walk, I believe. We had a fast pass but it was about 15 minutes before we were sitting and ready to ride. It was just a neat ride. It feels like you are flying in a hang glider (at least that's what they told me, I haven't ever done that, so...) and they even make it so you can smell what you are seeing. The evergreen trees are one thing that comes into mind. The end is over Disneyland in CA, so that was neat, too.

Nick and I switched kids and they headed to Soarin'. Norah was looking hot and tired, so we went shopping at Mouse Gears, and I picked out an ornament. Then we went over by Spaceship Earth where we planned to meet the boys. Norah was napping at this point. I was ready for a bench break. It's very clear to me why people schedule a pool/rest day in the middle of their Disney trips! Epcot seemed more spread out, too, so I felt like we walked a ton by 11.  Nick and Wes got back, so we rode Spaceship Earth. It was an okay ride and Wes liked it. Nick said Norah liked it, too. 

 We then posed for our family picture in front of SE just as we did with the other icons at the other parks.

We then headed over to The Sea with Nemo and Friends to use our FastPass. The posted wait was 40 minutes, but the cast members were telling people getting in the line they figured something was wrong and it was more like 15. Still, we were in the FP lane and on the ride in no time. Wes liked this ride, too, and Nick said Norah liked going on it again. It was similar to the Little Mermaid ride at MK, but I liked that one a little more. We then walked right over to Turtle Talk with Crush. This was super neat. It;s an interactive show. It was close to 1 and Wes was complaining of hunger rather than paying attention though :( 

We had lunch at Coral Reef. Nick really liked this place, but we were really far from the aquarium which is the main reason I had chosen it. I did take Wes down to see it though.

We then headed to the Visa Cardholders Meet N Greet, since we got a free pic since we have a card. It's a surprise who you see (I think because it changes often), but the line looked short, so we got in it. Then we heard the lady who was second in line (we were 4th) say her family of 17 would be here any minute. Ugh. So that didn't go as quickly as anticipated.... We ended up seeing Goofy and Mickey. Wesley danced with Goofy and Norah only wanted to see Mickey, of course.

At this point it was around 2, and I was about spent. Wes and I still had the pass for Test Track, so we headed that way for our last ride and Nick took Norah to see Minnie again and say good bye.

They said Goodbye to Mickey and Goofy while they were there, too.

She looks so sad... mean old Dad making her see giant Goofy!

Mickey is okay, though!

Meanwhile, Wes was very excited to show me Test Track. I let him pick everything for our car design. Here is what he came up with:

Wesley's design out-scored Nick's. Nick said his was 198. Yay, Wes!

 Wes had to get his pictures taken by a couple of cars afterwards. He chose the first one since it was similar to Grandma's, of course.

With that, we headed to the exit. I fully intended on walking around World Showcase a bit, but we were beat. The kids fell asleep in the stroller almost instantly. 

Since the kids were out, we had a PhotoPass photographer snap a few of just us as we left.

With that, we said goodbye to our last park, grabbed a drink and headed to the bus. As the last half of our trip seemed to go, we got there just as the bus for our hotel left. No biggie since we were planning to walk over to Art of Animation and check out that resort later anyway and one of their buses was waiting. We were the only ones on the bus and the kids continued their naps.

When we got to Art of Animation, it was time for a bathroom break and then we spent some time looking at the Cars section of the resort.

Art of Animation was so neat. We may have to stay there next time! The Nemo pool looked really neat, too, but I didn't get a picture of it.

After that, we walked across the bridge to Pop Century and headed back to our room. I thought we might hang out in the a/c a bit, but Wes was ready to swim!

Apparently, I only snapped this one picture while we were swimming. I have a few videos of Norah practicing her walking skills, so I may get around to uploading those and adding them in here eventually. We only used the splash pool since it's much more Norah's size and Wes liked that it had fountains anyway.

We went and bought a few more souvenirs... I made Wesley wait until the end to choose, and he picked some PJs and bath toys. He sleeps with his Pluto and Mickey toy and has played with all the others every bath since, so it seems they were a good choice. He always lets Norah have the Minnie one to play with, of course. :) 

We then grabbed supper and realized we had a ton of snack credits left. I hadn't had one of these yet, so...

I also purchased some Gummies and Mickey Rice Crispy treats- things that could travel. 

We got two for Allyssa and Jordan as a thank you for watching Teddy. Sorry, Mom, I know you have Sully but I figured they'd be rock hard by in 2 weeks!

We tried to get the kids to bed early so we could pack. We had an early flight out so Magic Express was picking us up at 3:30--- yikes!

It seems like it took forever to pack. We didn't by a ton of souvenirs, but we did buy some. I was hoping the diapers' vacated space would be enough but it was a stretch. I didn't want to overpack the larger suitcase as I knew then it would be overweight. It ended up bouncing between 49 and 50 on the scale the next morning. Whew, that was close! 

I don't want to do a separate post for our travel home, but I do have a few pics to share.

The next morning after we had already woken up the kids...

Wes even had shoes on and was back out!

Magical Express... happiest bus ride ever on Monday....Saddest on Saturday!

 Wes and his carry on!

The kids slept from Florida to Atlanta.

We grabbed breakfast at our layover and then had the 2 hour flight back to DM, where Allyssa picked us up!  It was such a fun trip. I will do one more blog post with some of my tips, things I would do differently, and thoughts for next time.