Somebody's Gonna Pee in a Cup, West Coast - Link to new TR 1/21

[natebenma]

Stroller Wars-

Wow!!! That does not sound like a magical first night at Disney AT ALL!

It sounds like the crowds were miserable and made up of a bunch of inconsiderate whack-jobs.

I'm so glad you were able to make it to the Frozen Sing-a-Long. Sounds like a wonderful experience.

But that is unbelievable what you all endured at the Osborne lights and on the way over to TSMM. Who knew you needed full body armor for a night at Hollywood Studios?

Good call to get out of Dodge to unwind and get ready for the rest of vacation.

 

[natebenma]

Princesses Are For Girls!

[/CENTER]

So cute!!!

That was a pretty darned good morning at MK. Sounds like you were able to enjoy some pretty important Fantastyland (and other) highlights without much wait or trouble.

That is super scary about losing your daughter in the wardrobe (isn't that how the whole Narnia thing started???)

I once lost my 3 year old son in the Tiki Birds queue area. We were with friends and there were a total of 5 kids that I was keeping tabs on. I did the 1-2-3-4-5 count contstantly. I had just a moment of honest panic when I looked around and couldn't see Ben. Then I realized it was because I was holding him.



Your daughter was an adorable Chip.

Not one single stroller hit?

 

[natebenma]

We Didn’t Pack Enough Fruit Snacks!

Great family picture!

You had a super afternoon/evening at EPCOT!

We haven't eaten at the Garden Grill, but it sounds great with the characters, the rotating restaurant and the excellent food.

Living with the Land is one of my favorite attractions. I miss the folksy song that used to accompany the ride, but somehow cruising by real, non-animatronic plants is really special!

Glad you were able to enjoy CP without too many issues, snack-rationing excluded.

I miss Dreamfinder, too!!! We mostly skip Figment, but we went during the Year of a Million Dreams and scored Dream FP on that attraction, so it does hold a special place for us. Just not enough to go every time.

Nice line-up enjoying World Showcase attractions, and it is great that you were able to watch Illuminations.

 

[amazingact21]

I'm glad the restaurant was rotating when you went. That's a big draw to eating there, so I found it hard to believe the rumors that Disney wasn't fixing that aspect when it "broke."

Who'd have guessed your kids would be flip flopped on their character interests. Maybe your DD was less nervous with princesses because they were face characters. At least your DS got some fun character interactions at Garden Grill and at the Canada pavilion.


Living with the Land is one of the most underrated attractions at WDW. It's a must-do for every Epcot visit.



Sounds like the CP was an overall success...even with the snacks running out.



Kids and trains...they can be obsessive over them.



Hey, I hate popcorn, but that caramel popcorn is so good, even I get a bag once in awhile.


The holiday tag is the best part of IllumiNations. You can't beat that finale.

 

[SarahDisney]

I think by now, everyone has bought into the logic that AK is the hottest park at Disney World. I would like to counter, that in the evenings, EPCOT is the coldest. At least in the winter months. It just seems that if you plan to spend an evening around the WS or get a front row spot for Illuminations, you get chilled by the air coming off the lake.

Agreed! I'm always freezing at night at EPCOT. I thought I was the only one!

Yay for getting into EPCOT easily - it's nice to see that what happened at HS wasn't a trend that continued throughout the trip.

So ... if DD only does princesses and DS only does non-princesses, does that mean that as parents you can split up and do twice as many characters? (Although that does also require either only using PhotoPass pictures or bringing two cameras).

You did get some great pictures of DS with the characters.

We enjoyed the ride as always. I’ve said in the past that if I were ever to be a CM, I’d want to be here. I’ve grown up on a farm, I still farm myself, and my “other’ full time job is working in agriculture as a grain buyer. I’ve always enjoyed growing things, and I’m definitely fascinated by some of the technologies and methods that they use to grow plants. It’s just one of those places that I really nerd out about.

Of all the places to want to be a CM ... okay then. I have to admit, I haven't done Living with the Land in 15 years ... being a city girl, the farming doesn't interest me.

I always have to stop and see Figment. As much for nostalgia as anything. I loved that ride when I was little. My mom has a picture of me with Dreamfinder and Figment from our first ever trip to Disney World. DS still drinks from a Figment cup when he’s at my parents’ house that I used to have when I was little. Imagination, and Figment, is just one of those things that take me back to some fond memories and good feelings.


But I’ll be the first to admit… the ride really sucks now. Bring back Dreamfinder!

I never saw it in the Dreamfinder era (my first WDW visit was in 2000, when Dreamfinder was already gone), but I think anything would be better than what there is now. I won't do Figment again as it is, but if they bring back Dreamfinder, I'd actually be willing to do it again.

After a little while of doing that, we move on towards the World Showcase. We still had plenty of time to kill before CP and I wanted to make it a point to try to catch some of the shows in WS so we stopped in Canada for the movie. It was really a good one, and I’m glad I took the time to see it. Not crazy about the fact that you have to stand to see the movie, but it is good none the less.

Canada is my favorite of the World Showcase movies ... but I wish it was a sitting thing! It's definitely hard to stand for it. But I'm glad you enjoyed!

Great pictures ... even if DD needed Daddy to be there for her to be willing to meet the characters.

I'm glad to hear your guys enjoyed CP and the kids made it through, even with the insufficient snacks.

We walked through Norway and pointed out where Maelstrom used to be. A shame we couldn’t ride it one last time, but I’ve got to admit, I’m kind of looking forward to seeing what they end up doing with it. I definitely enjoyed Maelstrom, but bringing a ride based on a Disney story or character to the parks is something that has never bothered me at all. Those characters are really what the company and the parks are all about.

Definitely agree with that (although I hated Maelstrom) - while I understand that people loved the ride and considered it a classic, I love that Disney is incorporating their successful films into the parks and not insisting that the two remain separate.

But don’t get me started on Avatar.

Agreed. I don't know what your particular objection is, but I have many objections to AvatarLand.


Sorry you were disappointed by the end of Illuminations ... I've never seen the holiday tag, so I don't know why they would have replaced Walter Cronkite. But the way I see it ... they change things sometimes. You can either be upset or just learn to like the new thing.

Overall, it sounds like a great time at Epcot!

 

[Leshaface]

Totally agree about Epcot, particulary WS, being the coldest park. Not enough structures to block out the cold wind.

One of the big draws to the restaurant is the rotating part...at least, that's a big draw to me! And to not have it working would be a let down. Glad it was up and running though!

Your DS is too cute for words. Best smile!

but I'd rather dedicate stomach space to more important foods.

For me it's dessert

I know we saw saw the 9 pound lemons on our trip, because DM had made a comment about using those for my lemon bars.

Yep, spent some time at the music carpet too

Note to self: If we ever do CP, bring a crazy amount of fruit snacks

Illuminations is so loud, but I love it! I don't think i've seen the holiday tag though. DH was trying to run out of the park when DS was 2 months because of how loud it was and he was certain that DS would go deaf

 

[ursalita]

Boys! I couldn't believe how young mine were when they showed me they were such boys. As a result I've never met the princesses. This trip I'm determined to so they'll just have to suck it up. It will be funny to see their reactions like your DS with Ariel.

I was very interested to read your review of Garden Grill. If we did a character meal that would be the one I would do. Except for CP breakfast but that's not fir the characters.

I also like Living with the Land. I think I aspire to grow things but I never really succeed at it. I'm planning my garden for the spring, I can't wait.

I love Joe Morton's voice, I'm sure he was a great narrator.

How lucky you were that the kids stayed asleep and you were able to turn in early.

 

[ashw100]

Finally caught up. Sorry you had a rough night at DHS. I can't believe those people just knocking you guys around. You held your composure much better than I would have. Looks like I have something to prepare for with your DS's reaction to the princesses as I have three boys. We will soon be a princess-free family soon. Running out of fruit snacks is a scary situation. At least you were able to stave off any meltdowns.

 

[MissMaryQC]

A little late to the party but I'm joining in

Gonna catch up, be back soon!!

 

[MEK]

I think I see a "high five" going on there! I guess she momentarily forgot she doesn't like characters! Love it!

The pictures of DS with the Garden Grill characters are so adorable! Love them!

Ugh to the 3pm dinner. That is just the worst time to eat. You're not hungry yet and you're starving by 9pm. *sigh* But worth it to see CP. I haven't seen the entire CP program in YEARS and I'm totally going to do the dinner...er ...I mean lunch...package next year. I agree that it's a phenomenal show. And its the true Christmas story. No political correctness there! I always think its so cool how they integrate local church choirs in the program. I would totally do that if I lived in Orlando.

Sounds like you guys had a great afternoon and evening!

 

[kastoney]

What a great night in Epcot. I've never done garden grill but it looks great.

I can't believe the listen to the land had a fifteen minute wait. Don't think I've ever not walked right on. Ahh, fastpass.

I'm with you on figment, I loved if as a kid but now it's just downright awful, and of course my daughter loves it. Rode it at least 5 times last trip.

I had no idea pooh was in the UK. The wait at MK is always so long we usually skip it, so this is great intel.

Joe Morton. From the great Morton steakhouse lineage perhaps? Fruit snacks are a wonderful distraction aren't they? Should have bought some snacks long ago.

 

[khertz]

You are totally right about Epcot at night in winter. BRR!!!

I'm glad dinner went well, despite DD not being nuts about the characters. At least she didn't freak out. DS looks like he is having a great time!

CP is one of the things I miss most from not having done a Christmas trip in years. I loved that show! Bad timing for the kids to finally get their appetites back though. YIKES! I'm glad they both made it through the show okay though.

 

[Dugette]

Great Epcot evening! I was one of those that ate at the Garden Grill when it was NOT rotating (in June). It was still fun, as the character meets there are great and the food is delicious. But it's even better rotating (did it several years ago too).

I love Living With the Land. Also agree on the supremacy of the original Figment!

I have never been in that Pooh and Tigger meet area, but it's so cute! Great pics!

Glad that the Candlelight Processional went reasonably well and that you avoided the meltdown.

Impressive the kids slept through Illuminations!

 

[Steppesister]

All caught up. I think.

In no particular order:

You made the most of a great morning at MK. You hit pretty much all the attractions in FL and a couple more to boot. Good job!

Pecos never disappoints. The fixin's bar totally makes it worth it- especially the fake cheese sauce. Because EVERYTHING is better with fake cheese sauce on it.

That's why you got nachos that night. Proabably needed a 2nd helping of always-good-artery-clogging-fake-cheese-sauce again 6 hours later. See if you'd had fake cheese sauce for the kids, you'd never had had a near melt down during the show. That's my take on it anyways.

Illuminations is my least favorite too, but any show is better than TV at home on all of the other 348 days of the year, right?

You had a pretty special day despite missing the 9 pound lemons (you'd have made lemonade, right?) and getting farted on by a skunk.

 

[afwdwfan]

A perfect Epcot evening.

It really was.

We took my youngest to DW for the first time when she was 3. She did not like the characters. It wasn't until Chip and Dale took some extra time with her that she warmed up. Luckily this was at Chef Mickey's for breakfast before we hit Epcot. I find Epcot has the most characters through out the day. Hopefully DD warmed up more to them as the trip went on.

She did better as it went on. I don't think she was ever really crazy about them, but a week of seeing them just about every day seems to work wonders.

DS looks like he really enjoyed the characters at diner. No princesses to worry about. 3 is really too early to eat. We had diner her in 2007 and enjoyed it too. We found the food to be very fresh.

Yeah, the food and characters were great. But definitely too early. We kind of had to go with what was available to us for the package though and the middle show was our best if not only option.

I love having fruit snacks at Disney. It just seems to be the perfect snack while waiting in line. Don't blame your DD for being disappointed. I hope you restocked before your next park. Someday I want to see CP.

Well, considering she only ate about 3 packs of fruit snacks and half a bag of goldfish... We did restock though. We had plenty back in the room.

Illuminations is the perfect ending. I'm amazed your kids slept through it. You wore them out really good.

If we were at home, they'd probably still be wide awake at 9 pm.

Nice job on securing a FP+ for The Land.

Adapt and adjust to the system.

Cute pictures of DS with the characters. I'm about the kids...no princesses for DS and nothing but princesses for DD. I'm wondering how much you had to split up to go see the appropriate characters for the appropriate child.

Not much. We made them suck it up and go along with the other. We're cruel like that.

Yet another restaurant we disagree on. Perhaps we just had an off night (I know the reason Mark got sick is he ate the kids chicken and chicken hasn't agreed with him since before his gallbladder removal and after). Maybe we will give it another try some time.

I really thought the food was fantastic. I hope it was an off night for them and I'm sorry Mark got sick, but our food and service were both top notch.

I wonder what happened to the lemons?

I'm assuming they moved them and they just weren't where we were looking for them.

Figment...you and I share a love of our purple dragon. At least this version is better than the middle version.

The middle version came between trips for us. I never saw that one.

I'm glad you saw the Canada film. It is probably my favorite although I like them all. You have to stand in China too, but the one in France you can sit (and nap).

I thought it was a very good film. Wouldn't mind seeing it again, and hopefully we can get all the others done too.

The pictures with Pooh and Tigger are priceless. You can see DD wants to like them in her high five with Tigger (she is too cute for words by the way).

Thanks, we agree. And she did warm up to them and kind of want to see them, but she just wasn't going to do it without me holding her.

I'm glad you enjoyed the Candlelight Processional (yes, I had to google Joe Morton as well). Since it was cooler, did you have any issues with those on stage having to leave for heat exhaustion?

I didn't notice anybody having any problems during the performance, although I did see a stretcher being wheeled out from the backstage area after the show ended. Forgot about that one until you asked.

A Slow Boat to Mexico is better than A Slow Boat to China.

They should put a boat ride in China. Just to make you call IASW something else.

We didn't stay for the holiday Illuminations but watched it from the Boardwalk. The fireworks were spectacular.

I'm still angry and upset that they took Walter Cronkite out as the voice in Spaceship Earth.

His voice is timeless... I mean really what gives?

 

[afwdwfan]

That's impressive. I can barely touch Drew without waking him up.

He doesn't want to miss anything.

I can't seem to avoid the grumpy part, either.

Well, that one is a coin flip for us...

At least they are equal-opportunity shunners.

They know what they like and what they don't.

Totally agree!

Somehow that doesn't surprise me.

This just makes me sad.

I ate as much as I could. Mostly the ice cream though. Stomach space was very limited.

And nobody stands there looking over your shoulder telling you how to farm the crops better.

There is always somebody standing over your shoulder telling you how to do it better. You of all people should know this.

Ok, but you're starting to lose me here...

Just take a nap until we get back to the good stuff.

Well, uh, you know, whatever floats your boat...

Come on... you can't hate on Figment and Dreamfinder in their original form. It is timeless. Which is why it is so stupid that they got rid of it.

Whew! I feel better now. Thanks for restoring my faith in you, Andy!

I'm glad I didn't lose you completely

I think that's the highlight of Epcot for a lot of small kids!

Professional parenting there.

It's funny how you learn to look for little things like that.

Glad you enjoyed the show! I've always been curious about that one.

It really is a great show. I recommend it.

Terminator 2. No googling, I promise!

But yeah, a little light on the star power.

Oh, I believe you. If anybody would know who he is, it would be the guy who quotes movies in his TR's.

Plus, maybe the ride will make sense now!

Well, I said I liked the ride. I didn't say that I understood it. You make a valid point here.

Just make the rides fun, at least.

I do have to agree with that.

I just about fell asleep during that part.

Must. See. This.

Seriously... it makes the regular finale seem lame. I could feel my lungs vibrating inside my chest from the shockwaves.

Aw, c'mon. That's not cool. Maybe it was Elsa's voice.

No... it was pretty non descript. I don't know who it was. But if you heard it, I'm sure you could place her.

 

[shan23877]

Hi Andy! I'd been reading along, but I'm finally here to comment!

Beautiful family! Love the AoA upgrade.

I'd never considered that the littles can get separated so easily at ETwB, but now that you mention it, it would be terrifying. I'm so short that I usually stand in the first row of adults. I'm glad you enjoyed the "show"!

Too funny that the kids are interested in completely different groups of characters. That should make things interesting...


We're doing GG for the first time this summer (not to give away the ADR portion of our PTR)! I'm looking forward to it. I grew up in a farming community, so I always appreciate LwtL as well.

I'd love to see the CP some day. I'm glad that the kids let you watch the whole thing. Next time, more snacks

 

[afwdwfan]

Glad to hear that you enjoyed the food at Garden Grill. I've never eaten there, but maybe I'll have to give it a try sometime.

We really enjoyed it. I don't think it will leap up to the list of places we need to visit every trip, but it was definitely a very good meal and I'm sure we'll be back.

Sounded like a nice evening. I'm still waiting to read about someone peeing in a cup though!

That's tomorrow... maybe 2 or 3 updates away. But nobody really pees in a cup... at least not in my presence.

I tried to reply to your previous chapter, but the DIS ate my post and I never got back over here to comment after that.

I hate it when that happens. Maybe this new set up they have will fix those problems. Or create all new ones.

Too bad your DS was too cool to meet a Princess. Nice that you got to do Enchanted Tales with Belle without too long of a wait. It's cool to see once, but unless you have kids who interact with Belle, that's all you need to see it.

I'd say that's a fair assessment of it. I think it is definitely worth seeing, but yeah, if nobody in your group is in the show it probably isn't something you'd want to do over and over.

We're eating at Garden Grill next trip, so I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it.

I hope you like it! We thought the food tasted great and was prepared perfectly. No complaints at all.

Sounds like a long day, but a lot of fun!

It was! I always like going from park open to park close. It can be hard to do with the kids though.

 

[afwdwfan]

Stroller Wars-

Wow!!! That does not sound like a magical first night at Disney AT ALL!

It definitely wasn't one of our highlights.

It sounds like the crowds were miserable and made up of a bunch of inconsiderate whack-jobs.

That would be the nice way of saying it.

I'm so glad you were able to make it to the Frozen Sing-a-Long. Sounds like a wonderful experience.

It was! The kids enjoyed it and the adults had no complaints.

But that is unbelievable what you all endured at the Osborne lights and on the way over to TSMM. Who knew you needed full body armor for a night at Hollywood Studios?

It really was ridiculous. I don't understand why they made the traffic flow go that direction. You've got crowds heading to the 2 biggest attractions in the park going to the same side of the park down narrow walkways.

Good call to get out of Dodge to unwind and get ready for the rest of vacation.

That is definitely what needed to happen at that moment.

So cute!!!

Thanks

That was a pretty darned good morning at MK. Sounds like you were able to enjoy some pretty important Fantastyland (and other) highlights without much wait or trouble.

It's the beauty of rope drop.

That is super scary about losing your daughter in the wardrobe (isn't that how the whole Narnia thing started???)

Wow... now that you put it that way, it is even scarier.

I once lost my 3 year old son in the Tiki Birds queue area. We were with friends and there were a total of 5 kids that I was keeping tabs on. I did the 1-2-3-4-5 count contstantly. I had just a moment of honest panic when I looked around and couldn't see Ben. Then I realized it was because I was holding him.

That is hilarious! My MIL did the same thing at church one morning. She was trying to keep track of all the grandkids and forgot that she was holding the youngest. She kept asking where he was. My BiL and I caught on right away and started playing it up and acting like we were looking for him. DW ruined our fun though.

Your daughter was an adorable Chip.

Yes she was. I don't know that she knew what she was doing, but she definitely had fun doing it.

Not one single stroller hit?

Thankfully, no!

Great family picture!

Thanks!

You had a super afternoon/evening at EPCOT!

We really did. Would have preferred to eat a little later, but it was really a nice evening.

We haven't eaten at the Garden Grill, but it sounds great with the characters, the rotating restaurant and the excellent food.

This is the first time we ever tried it. We've kind of considered it and then made it one of our last ADR cuts on some past trips, but I'm glad we finally worked it in. It didn't disappoint.

Living with the Land is one of my favorite attractions. I miss the folksy song that used to accompany the ride, but somehow cruising by real, non-animatronic plants is really special!

I really enjoy the ride. It is my time to sit back, relax and kind of nerd out. I miss the human tour guides though.

Glad you were able to enjoy CP without too many issues, snack-rationing excluded.

Yeah, I was really worried about how the kids would handle it. Could have been better, but it could have been much worse.

I miss Dreamfinder, too!!! We mostly skip Figment, but we went during the Year of a Million Dreams and scored Dream FP on that attraction, so it does hold a special place for us. Just not enough to go every time.

I can totally understand...

Nice line-up enjoying World Showcase attractions, and it is great that you were able to watch Illuminations.

Yeah, I really didn't know if we'd be up for it or not. We had a second opportunity to watch it later in the week if we chose to leave after CP, but I think it worked out best that we saw it when we did.

 

[afwdwfan]

Hey! I finally found the emoticons! I swear that button wasn't there earlier today.

And apparently it isn't working now anyway. This new format is taking some getting used to.

I'm glad the restaurant was rotating when you went. That's a big draw to eating there, so I found it hard to believe the rumors that Disney wasn't fixing that aspect when it "broke."

It definitely is nice having it rotate. It is just the perfect speed too, we were leaving just as we finished one revolution. It would be kind of a letdown to be stuck facing a wall in one of the areas between scenes or something.

Who'd have guessed your kids would be flip flopped on their character interests. Maybe your DD was less nervous with princesses because they were face characters. At least your DS got some fun character interactions at Garden Grill and at the Canada pavilion.

I'm assuming that the face character thing was a big factor with DD. DW coaches cheerleading at a high school, and DD loves to grab the poms and get down on the floor with the real cheerleaders when she's allowed to. But they have a mascot that she is terrified of and if he's there, she wants to be nowhere near them. I have a feeling this is a big part of why she was that way with the characters.

Living with the Land is one of the most underrated attractions at WDW. It's a must-do for every Epcot visit.

Sounds like the CP was an overall success...even with the snacks running out.

Yeah, it could have been a disaster, but thankfully she wasn't too grumpy and we were able to enjoy the show.

Kids and trains...they can be obsessive over them.

I love the trains at Germany as much as anybody, but they only had 2 of them running when we were there. It was kind of a letdown to me, but they were just thrilled with running from one tunnel to the next and watching the train cross underneath them.

Hey, I hate popcorn, but that caramel popcorn is so good, even I get a bag once in awhile.

It is pretty good stuff. The fresh caramel on it is much better than anything you're going to get anyplace else.

The holiday tag is the best part of IllumiNations. You can't beat that finale.

It really is. I could probably stand to maybe not see Illuminations if we were there any other time of year. But during the Christmas season, I'm definitely going to make a point to check it out.

Agreed! I'm always freezing at night at EPCOT. I thought I was the only one!

I'm glad I mentioned it then. It seems there are a few of us!

Yay for getting into EPCOT easily - it's nice to see that what happened at HS wasn't a trend that continued throughout the trip.

Yeah, when you start the trip with an evening like DHS, it definitely makes you feel a little concerned about what it will be going forward. Between our time in MK and EPCOT, I was feeling much better about what our week would bring.

So ... if DD only does princesses and DS only does non-princesses, does that mean that as parents you can split up and do twice as many characters? (Although that does also require either only using PhotoPass pictures or bringing two cameras).

Oh, splitting up would be way too easy!

No, we really didn't focus a whole lot on characters. We tried to do the bulk of our character meets at character meals or we'd stop to meet a character if we were passing by and the line was short.

Of all the places to want to be a CM ... okay then. I have to admit, I haven't done Living with the Land in 15 years ... being a city girl, the farming doesn't interest me.

Ok, Ok, there are several other places that I'd also love to be a CM, but this is kind of one of those things that really captures multiple interests of mine.

I never saw it in the Dreamfinder era (my first WDW visit was in 2000, when Dreamfinder was already gone), but I think anything would be better than what there is now. I won't do Figment again as it is, but if they bring back Dreamfinder, I'd actually be willing to do it again.

I really miss the original version. I know this latest version tries to pay tribute to it, but it just doesn't come close to doing justice.

Canada is my favorite of the World Showcase movies ... but I wish it was a sitting thing! It's definitely hard to stand for it. But I'm glad you enjoyed!

Yeah, it is kind of a bummer to stand. When I go to a show or movie at WDW, being able to get off my feet for a bit is always one of the biggest draws. It was a great movie though. I'd see it again.

Great pictures ... even if DD needed Daddy to be there for her to be willing to meet the characters.

Thanks!

I'm glad to hear your guys enjoyed CP and the kids made it through, even with the insufficient snacks.

They did just well enough to get through. But I'm glad that we were at least able to enjoy the show. I'd been looking forward to it. It was something near the top of the list for all of us.

Definitely agree with that (although I hated Maelstrom) - while I understand that people loved the ride and considered it a classic, I love that Disney is incorporating their successful films into the parks and not insisting that the two remain separate.

I didn't hate Maelstrom, but I can definitely see why one might. It was just kind of... random. I guess that's a nice way of saying it. I can't argue against Disney characters being tied into anything in the parks.

Agreed. I don't know what your particular objection is, but I have many objections to AvatarLand.

Well, without getting into specifics, I didn't like the movie itself. It was definitely visually impressive, but I saw it once and felt no need to ever watch it again.

I also thought it was ridiculous to buy the rights to Avatar when they have so many properties already under the Disney umbrella that they could and should do so much more with.

Sorry you were disappointed by the end of Illuminations ... I've never seen the holiday tag, so I don't know why they would have replaced Walter Cronkite. But the way I see it ... they change things sometimes. You can either be upset or just learn to like the new thing.

I wasn't terribly disappointed by it, but I always liked hearing Walter Cronkite read the narration. It is what it is, I guess.

Overall, it sounds like a great time at Epcot!

It definitely was!

Totally agree about Epcot, particulary WS, being the coldest park. Not enough structures to block out the cold wind.

I'm glad to see there are others who agree with that.

One of the big draws to the restaurant is the rotating part...at least, that's a big draw to me! And to not have it working would be a let down. Glad it was up and running though!

Yeah, when you set a restaurant up like that was is to have views looking out, it really kills the ambiance if you're at one of the tables looking squarely at a wall or something.

Your DS is too cute for words. Best smile!

Thanks... Funny how he goes from being too big for princesses, to loving his other friends.

For me it's dessert

I agree. I felt bad that we didn't finish the dessert. But in my defense, I did eat some of the cobbler, I tasted the kids' desserts and I ate most of the ice cream. It just didn't take up as much stomach space as that cobbler would have.

I know we saw saw the 9 pound lemons on our trip, because DM had made a comment about using those for my lemon bars.

I'm sure they were there. They always are. The just must not have been where we looked.

Yep, spent some time at the music carpet too

That one always seems to be a hit.

Note to self: If we ever do CP, bring a crazy amount of fruit snacks

Live and learn.

Illuminations is so loud, but I love it! I don't think i've seen the holiday tag though. DH was trying to run out of the park when DS was 2 months because of how loud it was and he was certain that DS would go deaf

Oh, it is loud, that's for sure. But that's part of what I like about it. When you feel your internal organs vibrating from the shockwaves, you know it is a good fireworks show.