EPCOT on Land, under Sea, and Outer Space!

Monday dawns with fog hovering around our humble abode. We get together over breakfast in the kitchen/living room and discuss the coming day. I was feeling a little under the weather and I think the
pace of the trip was starting to catch up with us.

Roxy has not finished the work she needed to do in regards to payroll so we agree that we will all go and then she will leave after lunch to finish up. She should be back easily before dinner.

Pop and my mom stayed behind and to pick up my sister Maria from the airport (she was flying in from Atlanta that morning). The rest of us hit the road and made good time in light traffic and parked right up front. The fog had cleared and it was looking to be a sunny, if cool morning.

We unpacked everyone and everything

…and rolled in towards the entrance

Here’s where things started to go a bit haywire. We were there in plenty of time before rope drop and the lines at the turnstiles were just starting to form. The girls had to use the bathroom, so we took care of that. But then Roxy started digging in her purse and “oh NO!!!” ….no tickets :0

We had put them in the room safe over the weekend since we were going to be at SeaWorld and neither of us remembered them when we were getting ready to go. Bean wanted to tag along, so her and I jumped in the van and rolled out for the resort. I decided to be “mr know it all” and didn’t use the GPS, so we ended up getting back on I-4 using the wrong onramp and took a quick detour to the SeaWorld exit. I guess Shamu missed us 😀

I got us turned around and we made it back, got the tickets and some more mad money from the safe, and were back out the door in record time!

And then I …you guessed it, jumped back on the freeway going the wrong way AGAIN and we had to take a tour of the SeaWorld turnoff. I guess Shamu REALLY missed us – lol. So around we went again and finally made it back on property and over to EPCOT. The one saving grace was that they had just opened up another section of parking so we again got a really good spot.

Bean and I came running in and we walked through the gates just shy of an hour later than we originally got there. I took a pic of the fam

And then a nice lady took a shot of all of us

I took the obligatory “interesting angled shot with sky and Spaceship Earth”

And then we headed on up the walkway to the character greetings. I’ve finally got my Photopass CD back, so here’s what we got from the wonderful Disney photographers:

After we finished up our little photo parade we came out and made a beeline to Mission: Space.
It was still early enough and a Monday that crowds were light.

Standby was only 10 minutes so we strolled on in. We got a call from my mom saying that they were almost to Epcot with my sister. So Roxy, the girls and I went orange while Nana did the green side (no extreme g-forces on that side). I got some decent shots as we strolled up to where the line was.

Ye ole space suit

And the girls and I waiting for something to happen

The ride was quite interesting and pretty intense (I was afraid to keep my camera out). They did a really good job of taking something that was originally designed for training pilots and astronauts and turning it into a surreal ride experience. I came off it trying to get my balance and brain back to the idea of proper gravity …hehehe.

We headed outside after scoping out the gift shop. I moved forward between the pavilions and set up a surprise welcome for my sis 😀

Here they come!

I got a quick hug and then the girls ran up.

And finally back over to the rest of the family.

We talked about it and decided to play the odds and ride Mission: Space again. Maria was stolen away by the girls and Roxy and I rode again with my mom (Nana went to the control center).

Coming off the second time I was REALLY wobbly!

While I was recovering I realized that our Coral Reef ADRs were coming up. I sent the fam on their way after collecting everyone’s tickets and getting FPs for Test Track. I caught back up and we made our way down to the seas and after some scouting found the door to Coral Reef.

We were right on time and had to wait about 5 minutes before being seated. We were in the first big booth on the level right across from the water and as we were being seated we had some friends join us 😀

After they left our drinks came …Roxy got one of the cool glowing ones

And here’s my ladies

I was surrounded – LOL

I tried to take some pics of the sea life but they didn’t turn out very well

Bean snuggled in with her favorite aunt

The overall atmosphere was great and the food was good for the most part. But there was something up with the vinaigrette on my sister and Bean’s salad. And Bean wasn’t very hungry in general. We finished up and snagged the cool glowing ice cubes from Roxy’s drink and headed back out. I snapped this shot of the entryway on our way out.

By the time we were done it was getting close to time for Test Track, so after some discussion I decided to stay with the moms and go to the Land Pavilion while Roxy, Maria, and the girls went to take a ride.

…while I got FPs for Soarin’ and the moms and I took a more serene journey through Living With the Land.

We met back up with our Test Track riders outside The Seas since the girls wanted some more time in there and we had a couple of hours to kill before Soarin’. Here they are posing with Nemo and Friends

We went inside and got on The Seas with Nemo and Friends.

We went straight from there to Turtle Talk with Crush. If you are in a group with a person in a wheelchair they actually take you to a different entrance and we had to wait a few minutes there. While standing there I couldn’t help but notice the very cool lighting fixtures they had and had to snap a pic (well a few pics, but I’ll only post two – lol)

And then it was in to say hello to Crush 😀

This time I had my lighting settings right and was able to snap some pics without flash. You can just see the girls up front (pink Minnie ears and Goofy spotted bandana):

Our Pumpkin Girl was spotted yet again for her cool bandana and got to talk to Crush – Whoohoo!

Dory came in and said hello to Mr. Whale

We made our way out and got a couple of shots with the sharks. I think Bean was still a wee bit jealous of big sis because of getting to talk to Crush ;-]

Roxy joined in on the fun

I finally photoshopped that kid crawling on the side out of the frame on these two shots along with the kids in Bruce’s mouth crowding the kiddos – lol

And then me with the hammerhead to finish the tour in there

We move on to some of the aquarium displays and among others, watch the really “Live” version of the Nemo cast

We then headed upstairs and happened to be there just before the dolphin show started. And you guessed it, our girls were chosen again!

After the show ended we wandered the Seas for a bit more, then moved back to The Land Pavilion as it was getting close to our Soarin’ FP timeframe. We looked around a bit and then headed downstairs and did Soarin’. It was only a few minute wait and we got front row – yippee!

The moms hadn’t rode it before and were pretty blown away by it …oh, and the rest of us enjoyed it too ;-]

After the ride Roxy had to leave to take care of the payroll stuff that she hadn’t been able to finish the night before. I borrowed her ticket long enough to get more FPs for Soarin’ and then we said our goodbyes to her. Both moms were feeling a little tired and I was suffering from either allergies or a cold that had been slowly progressing to the point where it was hard for me to talk without coughing.

We were all a bit ragged and getting hungry so decided to go ahead and grab an early dinner at Sunshine Seasons. I don’t remember what any of us had because I wasn’t feeling all that good and Bean started feeling worse and worse. She had a headache and after picking at her food had a stomach ache too. After I got her to eat a little I gave her some children’s Tylenol hoping to at least kill off the headache.

We finished dinner and saw there was no line for Living With the Land (which the girls hadn’t been on yet) so jumped back on it. Bean half watched it and half snuggled into me for the ride. We finished that and went upstairs for the Circle of Life movie. By that time I was carrying Bean and she just sat on my lap snuggled into my shoulder for the show.

When it was over Bean was looking pale and needed to go to the bathroom. I walked her down to do the standard “dad stands outside the bathroom” bit when she looked up at me and said she needed to throw up. I sent her in and immediately called Maria, who was standing up near the entrance to the pavilion with the moms.  Mucho thanks sis for being there for her! >:D<

She came down quickly and went in to be with Bean. She ended up having to go back into the bathroom two more times with her to throw up. In between we just had her lay on one of the benches near the entrance. I called Roxy and asked where she was and she said she had just gotten back in the park so I asked her to get a double stroller for Bean. I made a huge mistake and told her not to hurry.

Here’s where my ability to think completely turned off. Everyone had been looking to me for what we were doing and where we were going and between me feeling sick and being on cold meds and dealing with a sick kid I just didn’t have it in me to do anything for the rest of the fam :-[

I should have told them to go check out another pavilion or something, but instead they all ended up stuck sitting there wanting to help but not really being able to do much.  I kept waiting for Roxy to show up with the stroller and finally called her back. Since I hadn’t told her that we were all basically waiting for her she thought that she had lots of time and had actually been shopping for stuff for the girls so we wouldn’t get stuck doing it at the end of the evening like we had on other days.

I was a bit bent out of shape and told her she needed to get here as soon as she could. Roxy showed up a few minutes later and we got Bean loaded up into the stroller padded with a couple of coats. By then she was completely out.

It was too late to really do anything in World Showcase as it was fast approaching time for Illuminations. Nana wasn’t up for anymore that day so it was decided that Roxy and Nana would go back to the van and get Bean comfortable and they would watch the fireworks from the parking lot.

So Kyra, my mom, my sister and I all made our way to the lagoon. I caught this shot on the way up there

There was just enough space in one of the handicapped spots at the Showcase Plaza for my mom, so I sent her in there with Pumpkin Girl who sat on her lap. Maria and I found a decent spot next to one of the docks and waited for the show to begin. I took a pic of the castle across the way while we waited

The crowds of course got thicker and thicker but I was able to hold on to my spot. Finally the show began (I was glad because it was getting a bit cold and I had given up my jacket to make Bean comfortable in the stroller). So without further drama or ado, here’s my shots from Illuminations!

That first one was one of several I took by the dock but the overhang was blocking part of the sky so I moved over to the left to a big tree planter (so there was nobody directly behind me) and just stuck my camera above people’s heads using my monopod

We followed the mass of people and made our way out as quickly as we could. I caught a couple of quick shots of Spaceship Earth on the way out.

We called my pop when the show finished and he was there by the time we got out and took my mom and sis back to the resort. Kyra and I loaded up with Roxy, Nana, and Bean and we headed back and put Bean straight to bed. We all pretty much did the same. Oh and yes, I did apologize to Roxy about snapping at her/being mad about her not getting there quickly after I told her not to hurry ;-]

Tomorrow! Can we turn things around and but the ickies behind us? Where should we go – Maria knows, do you? Check in next time on our continuing adventures through the land that Walt made 😀