Travel

Our Magical Express bus to the airport was scheduled to pick us up at 5:55 AM, which meant we had to get up at oh-dark-thirty to make it there in time.

We were sort of hoping the big storm headed up the East coast would delay us a bit, but no such luck. So, back to winter we went!

The flights back were mostly OK, although Anna was so tired by the end of the second one that she cried for most of the last half hour…and then conked out just moments before we landed. Which meant I carried a very soundly asleep (and heavy) baby off the plane!

So, we’re back in Rochester, where it’s cold…but cold like February is supposed to be.

And now we need a vacation from our vacation!

Our last day at Disney – this trip anyway – and we headed back to Epcot to see some of the things we didn’t get to the first time there, and to finish our world tour!

First, we headed for The Seas. The Nemo ride was a huge hit with the girls, and Anna has found a new favorite character: “Nee-Moh!” We walked around the giant aquarium, and saw lots of really neat fish. I herded everyone into the Turtle Talk with Crush show, which was “totally sweet, dude!” Really, it was hilariously funny and something to put on our don’t-miss list for next time!

After the seas, we headed for The Land. Anna was too little to go on Soarin’, and we couldn’t actually do a switch off at the entry point like you can for many rides, so we had to take turns – which took forever! But it was definitely fun, although given the option to go again with Denis, Carrie chose not to. After we had all soared over California, we went to Sunshine Seasons for an early lunch, to prepare ourselves to walk from Canada to Morocco!

Canada was mainly a quick stop just to work on the mask, and then we visited jolly old England, where we saw a troupe of performers that were rather Python-esque. In France, we stopped for some delicious pastries, because, really, Epcot is just an excuse to sample cuisine from all over the world, right?

We spent a good deal of time in Morocco, both to let Carrie finish her mask and because the architecture there is so beautiful.

Weary from our world travels, we boarded the ferry to head back, where we ducked into Mouse Gear just as the rain started falling in earnest. It took a while to pick out t-shirts for everyone, and the rain just didn’t let up.

Denis decided to take Anna back to the hotel and Carrie and I ran through the pouring rain long enough to get a couple of Mickey ice cream bars. We tried to wait out the rain, but ultimately decided to call it a day.

We ordered in pizza for dinner and then walked down to the hotel arcade for a bit. Did a little more shopping in the hotel gift shops, and then headed back to pack up and put the kids to bed.

I did one last thing before going to bed myself…our first night, we had heard some strange music out on the bay, and after a little research discovered it was the Floating Electrical Pageant. We’d only really watched it through the windows of the hotel room every night – and the kids were soundly asleep and never did get to see it – so I walked out onto the dock to get a better view, along with some pictures and video. It was even maybe a little stranger out there…definitely an unusual way to end a vacation!

Today was another sunny day, and we walked over to Magic Kingdom to meet some fairies! Denis and Anna walked through the park while Carrie and I took the railroad around.

We stood in line for a very, very long time to meet the fairies. But it was worth it to see how excited Carrie was to meet Iridessa, Tinkerbell and Silvermist.

When we left Pixie Hollow and grew back to our normal size, we had just enough time to make it to our lunch reservation: Cinderella’s Royal Table! Of all the dining experiences we had in Disney, this was by far the most expensive. And it was also, by far, the most excellent! Really, the food here was top notch, and the character experience was great. The girls were visited by Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine and Belle – and all this was after seeing Cinderella herself downstairs. The cutest bit was that they had wishing stars and wands for the kids. At one point, they held a wishing ceremony. Carrie’s wish? To spend “half the time as a fairy, half the time as a princess, and half the time as a mermaid”.

After lunch, we headed back to Toon Town – we’ve heard rumors that by the next time we go it will have been replaced with another attraction, so we spent some time on the playground and in Mickey and Minnie’s houses. Denis took Carrie on Goofy’s Barnstormer – another minimum height ride – which Carrie loved. And then we headed back for a nap and a rest.

Anna napped (and I suspect Denis did too!) while Carrie and I checked out the pool. It had a zero entry area and a small waterslide that Carrie went down over and over. She contemplated the big waterslide (not super duper big, but big enough!) but changed her mind at the last minute. And we took a short dip in the hot tub, which is funny considering how tepid the bathwater has to be if we don’t want to hear wails about how she’s being burned alive… After we (mostly) dried off, we checked out the strip of beach on the other side of the hotel, where Denis and Anna found us. Anna wasn’t quite sure she liked the cold sand between her toes!

We had a quick dinner, then headed back to the Magic Kingdom. For some crazy idea we thought we’d take the kids on the Haunted Mansion ride. Which was scary for a few reasons – mostly because it kept stopping for long periods of time, and we were sure we were going to be trapped there until we became ghosts ourselves! After that, we bored the kids with the Hall of Presidents (which had been closed for renovations the other two times I’ve been). I was pretty impressed with the show, and am glad I finally got to see it.

As we exited the theater, the Spectromagic parade was passing through, so we watched the end of that. Carrie was so excited to see it again! And finally, Denis took Anna home to bed while Carrie and I sat right in front of the lit-up castle to watch the fireworks again. We were both a little sad that we won’t get to see them again until next time we come to Disney!

Another quick breakfast in the room, because today we headed to Epcot! And we finally had some nice sunny weather!

We went through Spaceship Earth first, which has definitely changed since we were there last time. One annoying thing was that the ride kept stopping (sometimes several times in a row, just a little bit apart). We think it was to help passengers with limited mobility load, but the annoying bit was more that they kept announcing that the ride was stopped and to stay in your seats while the narrator was talking, so we’d miss important bits of the story the ride was supposed to be telling.

Now, we know lots of people think Epcot is the least fun park, but it’s pretty much hands down our favorite. So right after Spaceship Earth, we grabbed a passport kit and headed to the world showcase.

We ate in Mexico, at San Angel Inn. It was yummy, but possibly the least little-kid-friendly place we ate at (it was pretty dark and the kids’ menu options were not really that great). And in Mexico Carrie started working on her Kidcot mask.

In Norway, Carrie survived the Maelstrom, while Anna took a 10 minute stroller nap. Not quite what we were hoping for…since Epcot is so big and so much walking we hadn’t planned to go back to the hotel for a nap today – but 10 minutes isn’t very long!

We saw some amazing acrobats in China, then stopped for a quick bout of drum playing and ice cream eating at the Outpost. Denis got himself a beer in Germany, and we caught another show and admired the architecture in Italy. We stopped in America just long enough to visit the Kidcot station.

Finally, we headed for Japan, where we had a wonderful dinner at Tokyo dining. The kids’ plates were shaped like trains…which Anna decided were much more fun to push around the table than actually eat from.

We wrapped up the evening by hiking all the way to Canada to see Off Kilter (warning: their site plays music). We love this band, and were really amused to watch the girls dance like maniacs to their music! And then we staked out a spot to watch the fireworks. Anna conked out before the fireworks even started, and slept right through them. Carrie was asleep before we got back to the hotel. And we were very happy that we’d brought both strollers!