Have you ever been to The Cheesecake Factory and wished that you could try every kind? Well, we had so many coupons to use up that we did just that. On Black Friday, for every $25 gift card that you buy from The Cheesecake Factory, you get two coupons for a free slice of cheesecake. We couldn't let them expire, so we used the rest of our coupons and make ourselves a smorgasbord. It took us about a week to finish them all, but they were delicious. Emily's favorite is still Hershey's, Andrew's is cookies and cream, and mine and Michael's is Adam's Peanut Butter. Yum!
Emily wanted to leave
at 8am. We did pretty well and left at about 8:15am. I was not happy with the
people next-door who kept us up talking and laughing last night. Thankfully,
that was the last we heard from them. A few minutes before 7am, Emily knocked
on our door and came into our room so that she could help me with getting in
the queue for Rise of the Resistance. We started trying to join the list at
6:59am. I kept clicking “Join” and then going back over and over until it opened
up. Right at 7am, I clicked Join, I took a half second to check and make sure
we were all selected, then once I hit Join again it was already full. We were
devastated! I couldn’t understand how we couldn’t get in when we did it right
at 7am. Anyway, we got to Hollywood Studios and got parked and got in and went straight
to the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. By the time we got to the line, which was
fairly short, it was already 9am. It was drizzling, but it wasn’t bad. It was a
super short ride. Nathaniel looked it up and it’s only a minute and 22 seconds.
It definitely felt short. I’m glad we didn’t wait very long. We walked over to
Toy Story Land. There was barely a line at The Market, where you buy Cookie Num
Nums, so we had to stop. Jonathan and
Emily didn’t want one, but the rest of us did.
They were just as good as the ones at California Adventure! I wanted to
ride Toy Story Mania, but we decided it would be better to have everyone go to
Millennium Falcon and have me go to guest services to find out about getting in
the queue for Rise of the Resistance. The lady at guest services said there was
nothing she could do to help us. She was able to tell me exactly what screen to
go to and how to refresh it and a few more tips like not being on Wi-Fi. At least
I felt a little more ready to try again at 1pm. I walked over to the 50s Primetime
Café to see if I could get us on our on their walk-up list, but I didn’t have
any luck. I waited for a while and then went to meet everybody at the Millennium
Falcon ride. They came off the ride and we took a picture.
Then, we walked over to
Toy Story Land. We got in the line for Toy Story Mania. I wanted to have lunch
at Woody’s Lunch Box, so while we stood in line for Toy Story Mania, I went to
make the order but the first available pick up wasn’t until 3pm. So that wasn’t
going to work. Emily wanted to order from ABC Commissary. Jonathan and Daniel
did, too. Then Nathaniel decided he would too, so we made an order for all four
of them, but Michael, Andrew, and I did not want to order from there. We ended
up getting an order from the pizza place, PizzeRizzo. So while we waited to
pick up the food at ABC Commissary, Michael and Andrew went over to the pizza
place to find us a table. We walked over there just a few minutes before 1pm.
That’s when I needed to try and join the virtual queue, so I told the kids to
meet up with Dad while I stood outside to join the virtual queue. There was a family
right across from me doing the same thing and the dad had it timed down to the
second. When he said go, I refreshed the page and we got in. So did their
family. I was so happy and we all cheered! I felt bad for a lady near us who
came up to me and asked if she was able to join but it was already full. When I
told the kids, they were so happy. What a relief! Our turn was going to be in
three hours. Star Tours was practically next-door so we went there next. As we
were in the line, we heard one of the cast members reading from a paper,
talking about Covid cautions. Daniel says as he was walking past, he saw that
the guy was reading off of a paper that said “Cleaning Spiel“ at the top. I
thought that was pretty funny. We had a little more than an hour left before it
was our turn for Rise of the Resistance. We were going to go to the Muppet Show
but that wait was too long and the movie was 17 minutes. Instead, we went to
the line for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. We were in that line for
quite a while and started getting nervous, but we were able to get through it
and ride the ride and be done just in time for our boarding group to start.
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway
Railway
We stopped at the
bathrooms and then went right to Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. The Rise of the Resistance
line was pretty short. It was so cool! All of the cast members were totally in
character and it felt like we were in the movie. It was really fun!
Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge
is so cool! Even the drinks look like they
are from the Star Wars movies.
After that, we split
off and Jonathan and I went to Toy Story Land while everyone else went to ride
Tower of Terror. They said it was a little underwhelming compared to the one
that was at California Adventure. Jonathan and I went on the Alien Spinning Saucers
and then on Toy Story Mania again. The queue for that ride is so cool. The kids kept saying that it puts the one in
California Adventure to shame.
We sat and relaxed and
waited until everybody was done. We met up at Woody’s Lunch Box right at 6pm,
when it was time for our dinner order. We were all feeling pretty exhausted at
that point. Emily accidentally dropped her mask and it got thrown away by the
workers. When we found out, they apologized and gave us a coupon to get two new
ones in the gift shop. Emily was so disappointed because it was her favorite
mask that she always wears. After we finished eating and cleaned up, we headed
over to Slinky Dog Dash. Thankfully, the wait was only 45 minutes. It had been
60 minutes or longer all day. I actually think the wait was more like 30
minutes. One of the workers space-shamed Nathaniel in that line. He just told
him to please stand on the line. It was a fun ride. Afterwards, we didn’t have
much time left. Nathaniel wanted to go walk around and explore in Star Wars Galaxy’s
Edge. Everyone else except me went on the Alien Spinning Saucers, twice actually.
The wait for Toy Story Mania was so short that we thought we could do that and
maybe the kids could ride the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster again. We had fun on Toy Story
Mania and practically got right on. Afterwards, Andrew really wanted to go on
the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster so he and Daniel and Jonathan all raced over there.
They even spotted Nathaniel on the way and had him go with them but they barely missed it. We stopped at the gift shop so Emily could get a new
mask. She used the other coupon to get
one for Jonathan. Then we left the park. The only thing I wish I could’ve done
was have another Cookie Num Num, but the Market where they were sold was closed
up when we were walking out. I think it was about 8:30pm once we got to the
car. We read scriptures in the car as I drove home. Then we had prayer once we
got back. Nathaniel had homework to work on, but he and I went through his
taxes and submitted them first. Then, we had the boys take baths and sent
everyone to bed.
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
Emily wanted us all to
leave for Magic Kingdom at 7am. Luckily, we already knew that when we get off
of the loop on the exit takes us to Disney World, you have to immediately get
over to the left lane. This is tricky because they have a ton of cones set up
and if you don’t pay attention, you miss it. We learned that lesson when we
went to Magic Kingdom on Thursday. Thankfully, we already knew about it so we
were able to do it with no problem because it was really foggy. If you didn’t
know where you were going, you literally couldn’t see the sign. To make up for
Andrew’s disappointment yesterday of not being able to go on the Rock ‘n’ Roller,
Michael told him he could choose the first ride. It turns out what he wanted
was to take the Monorail in instead of the ferry. It turns out he wanted to
ride it in to the park because then we get to go through the huge Contemporary
Resort hotel.
Waiting for the Monorail
We had decided our first ride was going to be Jungle
Cruise. I’m glad it was, because by the time we got off there was a 60 minute
wait. Then, since we were right there by the Magic Carpets of Aladdin, we did
that ride next.
Next, we headed over to
the Haunted Mansion because the wait was super short there. I finally got to
ride with Michael on a ride. It was 9:30am when we got out of there. Then, we
headed over to Mickey’s PhilharMagic. We didn’t have to wait very long. Then,
we went shopping in a little store right outside of the theater. Emily got a
T-shirt and a little Pascal lizard from Tangled. By then, it was 10:30am. Most
of the waits were pretty long. We decided to go to the Mad Tea Party since the
wait was only supposed to be 15 minutes, but the line was ridiculous so we had
to change our plans. We decided that since the wait for the Mine Train was less
than an hour, we would do that instead. I really like that ride, even more than
Big Thunder Mountain. While we stood in line, I made an order for Pinocchio Village
Haus restaurant for Nathaniel, Emily, Daniel, and Jonathan. They all ordered flatbread pizzas and
breadsticks. Once we got off the ride, I had them prepare the order and sent
the kids over there to wait for it and then pick it up. Michael, Andrew, and I
went to the Sleepy Hollow restaurant in Liberty Square. I really wanted the Mickey
waffle and Michael wanted a funnel cake. Andrew also got a funnel cake. We all
sat in Pinocchio Village Haus to eat our lunch. The boys enjoyed their blue
raspberry slushies. Next, we decided to head over to Big Thunder Mountain. Michael
and all the kids rode it. Next, we
decided to go to Tom Sawyer’s Island. Daniel wanted to run around with his
siblings for a while and just have fun. The boys ran around and played hide and
seek while Emily, Michael and I relaxed. We left the island around 2:30pm.
Our goal was to go to
Main Street and do some shopping since a lot of the ride lines were pretty
long. However, as soon as we got off of the raft, we saw that the Big Thunder
line was super short and moving fast so we hopped into that. We barely had to
wait at all. I was glad I got to ride it one more time. Then, we headed to
Cinderella’s Castle to get our picture taken. Next, we went to the Main Street Emporium
to do some shopping. We were not having much luck finding T-shirts. Andrew did
find a hat he wanted. Everyone wanted to ride Space Mountain again so I
finished the shopping and bought the hat while they went and did that. I did
not want to ride Space Mountain again. I also went to the confectionery because
I was hoping to get some English toffee. Unfortunately, they don’t sell English
toffee anywhere here like they do at Disneyland. I walked over to Tomorrowland
and sat and waited for them to get off of Space Mountain. Then, we went shopping
in Star Traders. Michael and the kids all got a drink and we took a break and
had our drinks and then decided on our game plan for the rest of the night.
Nathaniel really wanted to go on Pirates so he, Andrew, Jonathan, and Michael
all went to Pirates while Emily, Daniel, and I all went to the Carousel of Progress.
I didn’t remember it being so long, but it was OK. It’s kind of cool but kind
of weird. After that, we headed over to it’s a small world. That wait wasn’t too
bad. The only problem was that the family behind us gave us zero space. Their
kids kept coming up right behind me and a couple times bumped me in the butt. I
was about to say something but we were so close to getting on the ride I didn’t
bother. After that, we headed straight over to the Crystal Palace for our
dinner. We got there at 7:10pm and I was able to check in even though our
reservation was at 7:30pm. We didn’t get seated until after 8pm. We were
getting nervous at 7:45pm because we knew that the kids would not have time to
eat and go on rides and they wanted to ride Splash Mountain again. We talked to
them about it and they all wanted to eat there still so that’s what we did. The
lady told us they were clearing the table for us, and next thing we know
another family was seated there. Then I got the notification that our table was
ready but the workers kept coming out and calling other families. Finally, I
said something and the guy realized we somehow got skipped so he fixed it and
had us seated within about five minutes. The food was excellent! Michael,
Daniel, Andrew, and I all got the prime rib. Nathaniel and Emily got fish and
shrimp and Jonathan got fried chicken. We had a really nice time together. I
don’t know when we finished dinner, but it was well after 9pm and the park was closed.
The desserts were amazing! I couldn’t stop eating them. I guess that makes up
for the English toffee I couldn’t get today.
We headed out to Main
Street and got one more picture with Cinderella‘s Castle in the background at
night. I didn’t feel like waiting in lines for the Disney photographers.
We went into the Main
Street Emporium to shop some more. Jonathan got a Funko pop from Raya and the Last
Dragon, Jonathan and Emily got some socks, and Daniel picked out a T-shirt. We
paid for everything and headed out. We took the Monorail back to make Andrew
happy. Then we went back to the car and drove back to the townhouse. We talked
to the kids about what we’re going to have to do to get ready tomorrow. We had
a prayer and sent everyone to bed.
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
We planned to leave for
the airport at 7:30am. We did pretty well because we left at about 7:45am and
we made it there and dropped off the car by 8:30am. It took a while to get
everyone packed and out the door. I also had to clean up the kitchen and get
rid of most of the food. The security line at the airport was very long. We
said our goodbyes to Nathaniel and then got in a line. The flight was delayed. We left about an hour late. There was a lot
of turbulence, especially at the end as we were getting ready to land. It felt
like a Disney ride and made me sick to my stomach. We got our bags quickly and
got to the car easily. On the way home, we stopped at Gecko Grill to have some
lunch because everyone was starving. I can’t believe that on a five-hour flight
they didn’t feed us or offer to feed us with lunches we could buy. All they
gave us was a tiny bottle of water and a tiny bag of pretzels. We flew on
American Airlines. Luckily, the kids all took some snacks so we were OK. After
we ate, we got some cookies from Chunk Cookies and came home. We brought
everything in and unpacked. I was so tired so I laid down at 5:30pm. I had set
my alarm for 7pm. I must’ve turned it off in my sleep or something. Emily came
in at 10pm and said, “Mom, it’s 10pm, did you want to get up?” I couldn’t
believe I slept that long! Michael says he woke me up and we even had a
conversation but I don’t remember it at all. By the time I got up, Jonathan and
Andrew had put themselves to bed.
It was such a wonderful
trip. I’m so relieved that we were all healthy and that we made it there and
back safely and without incident. The
thing I love about Disney trips is that the whole point is for us to be
together and have fun! Those are my
favorite trips! The fact that Nathaniel
and Papa could join us was definitely the highlight of our trip. I am so grateful we were able to go!!!
Our goal was to have
the car packed by 10:30am and pull out by 11am and we did it. We had a little
bit of time to spare and were able to take our time checking everything. We
went to Culver's and had lunch. We got to the airport in plenty of time,
parked, checked our bags, and got through security. We boarded the plane easily
and the flight was pretty good. The kids were disappointed that there were
screens on the seats but they didn’t work. Mostly, everyone played on their
phones. Michael and I read a book. We landed half an hour early, so we ended up
landing at the same time as Nathaniel. It took a while for us to all meet up
and get our bags and the rental car. We all stopped at a Taco Bell and went to
the drive-through and brought the food back to the townhouse. Dad had picked up
the Walmart order for me and even went in and bought a few things that were out
of stock. The townhouse was fantastic!
There were four bedrooms and each one had its own bathroom, plus there
was a bathroom off the kitchen. The only bummer was that the AC wasn’t working
well, but we managed until they were able to fix it. We ate, got organized for
our day at Magic Kingdom tomorrow, and went to bed late.
Some pictures of the townhouse at Summerville Resort
Thursday, March 18, 2021
We have been planning for
weeks that we would leave at 6am this morning. We ended up leaving a little
after 6:30am. However, leaving at six wouldn’t have done us any good because we
sat there parked at the parking ticket booth for about 15 minutes waiting for
them to open. They opened a few minutes after 7am.
Here we are walking
from the parking lot to the ticket center. Last chance for a picture with no
masks!
We parked and went
through security and walked right up to the ticket window. We got our tickets
and went on the ferry to Magic Kingdom. We rented a locker and put on some sunscreen
and stuck everything in the locker and got going. It was so fun to walk down Main
Street!
Our first goal was Seven
Dwarfs Mine Train. Unfortunately, the line wrapped almost all the way around the
little mountain and there was no way we were going to wait in that line. Even
Emily said, no way! So, we decided to head toward Big Thunder Mountain because
the wait was only like 20 minutes or something. On the way, we saw that it’s a
small world had no wait but we decided to pass that by. When we walked past Haunted
Mansion and we saw that the wait was only five minutes, we couldn’t resist.
It’s Michael’s favorite ride. We got right on it. You didn’t even have to do
the part where you stand in a room because of social distancing. We got right
on the ride and it was fun. I was glad we got to see the evil bride because
that’s Michael‘s favorite part. Next, we headed to Big Thunder Mountain. Dad didn’t
want to ride that one with us because it’s too hard on his back but the rest of
us rode it. I felt like a mouse in a maze trying to get through that queue.
There was no wait, technically, it was just walking through the maze. Once we
stopped walking, we got right on the ride. After the first drop, and before it
started going up again, the ride stopped completely. They had to come get us
off of the ride and walk us through the ride to get out. It was actually pretty
cool. We felt like we were on a behind-the-scenes tour. They were very clear
that we were not to take a picture. It was like we were in the underbelly of
the ride and it was really cool. I was saying to the kids that at Disneyland if
this had happened, they would’ve given us a Fast Pass to make up for it. Or
Disney World, pre-Covid. I was shocked when they actually did that! I didn’t
think they did any kind of Fast Passes but, apparently, they do. So that was
awesome! We were allowed to use it for anything but Peter Pan and Mine Train.
Waiting for them to let
us out
From there, we went to
Pirates of the Caribbean. The wait was actually fairly long, like 40 minutes or
more. We had our first space-shaming incident in that line. Apparently, Nathaniel was getting too close
to the ladies in front of us, and the one lady said, “Can you give us some
space, please?” After that, we had a bathroom break and then we headed over to
Fantasyland. All of the wait times were suddenly much longer. Everybody seemed
to want a snack. I really wanted to go to Gaston‘s Tavern for a grey stuff
cupcake, but the line was super long so we just kind of sat and took a little
break. Nathaniel went and got himself a Dole whip. We had a hard time agreeing
on what to do. Finally, we decided we would go to Space Mountain and use our Fast
Pass and then go eat some lunch because everybody was getting really hungry. So,
we ordered our food to be ready at 11:35am and walked over to the ride. I’ve
got to say, I much prefer the Space Mountain ride at Disneyland. This one was
really jerky. It was still fun, though. We went to the Tomorrowland Terrace
restaurant and got our mobile order. We had a nice lunch and relaxed and talked
about what we wanted to do next. Emily made a list for the rest of the day. The
kids and Michael went on the Tomorrowland Speedway and Dad and I sat and relaxed
and talked for a little bit. Next, we headed over to the Barnstormer. That line
was actually longer than we thought it was going to be but it wasn’t too bad.
We all reapplied our sunscreen. It was warm but not unbearable. The ride was super short. The only bummer
about it was the backrest was bumpy and super uncomfortable. I’m glad Dad didn’t
go on it. Next, we walked through Cinderella’s castle so we could take some
pictures in front of it.
We were just in time to
see a little parade with the Disney princesses.
Then, we headed over to Peter
Pan because the wait was only 35 minutes and we decided that was probably the
best we were going to get. Unfortunately, the wait it was more like an hour. I
felt so bad because really nobody else cares about that ride but me. At least
the line weaved through the Columbia Harbor House restaurant (which is closed) so
we were inside in the AC for most of the time. I really like that ride. It
feels like you’re flying over London. Next, we got another snack. Everybody
wanted a treat so we went to Storybook Treats. Nathaniel got a cherry soft
serve, Emily and Andrew each got a root beer float, Michael I got a Dole lime
soft serve, and the boys and Dad each got a drink. Jonathan was feeling
exhausted and wanted to go back to the condo. I asked him what he would want
before he did that and he said he wanted to go on Splash Mountain. So Michael,
Nathaniel, Andrew, Daniel, and Jonathan all went to Splash Mountain. Emily,
Dad, and I took their bags and headed over to the Ariel ride. On the way, I
noticed that Gaston‘s Tavern had no wait so we went in there and I got a gray
stuff cupcake and Emily got some chocolate milk.
We had our little snack
and went to the Ariel ride. It was a long queue, but there was no one in it so
we walked right on the ride and that was great. Emily wanted to go see
Rapunzel‘s tower, so we went over there and took a couple of pictures.
We also had Dad take
pictures of us in the stocks.
Then, we headed over to
Splash Mountain to see if we could watch the boys. Their line was so long. We
sat at a table at Pecos Bill‘s Café for quite a while and waited for them. We
saw another impromptu parade while we waited.
They were supposed to
text us right before it was their turn. Luckily, I looked up at the top of the
ride and I saw them so I was able to be ready to record them when they came
down the big drop.
By the time they got
off the ride and got to us, it was about 5:45pm. While we were waiting, Emily
was saying that we should just go ahead and have dinner there at Pecos Bill’s Café.
That turned out to be an excellent idea. Everyone chose what they wanted and I
did the mobile order. It seems to work better when everyone enters their own
order on the app on my phone. It didn’t take long for them to get our food
ready. We found some tables inside and had a nice meal. While we were sitting
there, it started raining. We knew the rain was coming. We had our ponchos
ready, but by the time we left the rain had basically stopped and it was only
sprinkling a little bit. There were tons of people waiting for tables. We
thought about going to Mickey’s PhilharMagic. The wait was only 20 minutes, but
we didn’t understand how that could be because when the wait was 40 minutes
there was nobody outside and now there were people outside. Just as we started
to get in the line, Nathaniel called me because he was checking the line at Seven
Dwarf’s Mine Train. He said that they were just opening it back up and the line
was super short so we all rushed over there. He was right, and we got on pretty
quickly. It was a really fun ride. It reminded me so much of Big Thunder
Mountain, but it was smoother. The wait for Mad Hatter Tea Party was short, so
we all went on it. The lights are so pretty when it gets dark.
The next thing we did
was go on Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. It is so different from the one at
Disneyland, so I was a little disappointed.
After that, Michael and
the kids wanted to ride Space Mountain again so Dad and I sat and waited while
they went on it. The line was pretty short. As we were sitting there waiting,
however, the line suddenly got very long. Daniel was space-shamed in that line.
They said, “Can you give us some space, please?” Everyone seems to say the same thing. Like
they read Dear Abby or something. Once they finished that, Dad decided he
wanted to go back to the townhouse. He stopped at Walmart on the way to get
some fans for the bedrooms. The AC in the townhouse wasn’t working right (the
temperature never got below 78°) and everyone was hot at night. It actually
didn’t really bother me at all. Michael and the kids and I all walked over to Big
Thunder Mountain so we could ride that again and hopefully get to do the whole
ride this time. We did. The ride is not as cool at night as it is in
Disneyland. We always used to love going on that ride at night when there were
fireworks. We thought about going to Splash Mountain so the boys could ride it
again, but the wait was 45 minutes even though it was almost 9 o’clock at night
so we scratched that idea. Nathaniel says that when he asked if that was really
the correct wait time, the lady looked depressed like she was begging us not to
go on it. We went to the lockers and got our stuff and left. We took the Monorail
because we promised Andrew that we would since we took the ferry coming in. We
easily got to the car and got back to the townhouse. Dad had bought four fans
so we each had one in our bedroom. They promised so send a repairman the next
day.
Friday, March 19, 2021
This morning, the plan
was to leave at 7:30am, but it was more like 7:40am. By the time we got into Animal
Kingdom, it was about 8:05am so we did pretty well. It opened at 8am. We wanted
to start with the Pandora rides, but those waits were already pretty long so we
went to Dinosaur first instead. We walked right on. There was literally no
wait. Dad didn’t ride on it, and I’m really glad he didn’t because it even hurt
my back pretty badly. It was a fun ride, though, but it is almost identical to
Indiana Jones. After that, we went to Expedition Everest. That line was really
short as well. We basically kept walking until we got to the ride so we barely
had to wait. It just takes so long to get through the queues. There’s not a lot
of standing and waiting; it’s mostly moving. Anyway, at one point in the ride
my head flew off of the back rest and we went forward with so much force I felt
like I was going to have whiplash. I was really scared but so far, my neck is
OK. I didn’t ride that one again. Dad didn’t ride it either.
We decided the wait
times for the Na’vi River Journey and the Flight of Passage rides weren’t going
to get any better, so we headed over to Pandora. We had to take this photo op,
since Nathaniel loves The Lion King!
Pandora was really
beautiful. It kind of felt like you were in the movie. We waited a little more
than an hour for the Na’vi River journey ride. It was really cool. It was kind
of like a Pirates of the Caribbean-type ride, but there were no drops and there
was no chance of getting wet. It was a super cool ride, though. There was an
animated character halfway through that looked so realistic. Next, we headed
for the line for Flight of Passage. The line was so long! We just kept walking
and walking and walking to get to the end of it. The line moved pretty quickly,
though. It didn’t feel that long, but it was definitely over an hour, maybe an
hour and a half. Part of the line was by this little river, so we got to see
some characters.
The queue for Flight of
Passage was so cool, both inside and out!
Nathaniel got
space-shamed again. This time it was a
couple, and the guy said, “Can you give us some space, please? Those signs (meaning
the markings on the ground) are there for a reason.” We used our time wisely on
our long wait and made our mobile order for Flame Tree Barbecue. We debated
back-and-forth between that restaurant and the Harambe Market restaurant. I
also wanted to try the Yak and Yeti restaurant, but they didn’t have mobile
ordering so we chose Flame Tree Barbecue.
I think that Flight of
Passage might be the coolest ride I’ve ever been on. I mean, it’s no Incredicoaster,
but it was super cool. You really felt like you were flying. They have you in
this little motorcycle-type ride seat. The only problem was, they put the back
rest against your back so tight, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Everyone loved
it. We said it was definitely worth the wait but we wouldn’t wait that long
again. We actually ended up going again, but more on that later.
Right outside the
Flight of Passage ride
After the ride, we went
straight to lunch at Flame Tree Barbecue. Once we got there, I had to click to say
that we were there for them to start making the order. They wouldn’t let us sit
down until we got our food, but, luckily, we were able to find a nice big table
for all of us pretty easily. We kind of have a routine going where some of us
will carry the food while the rest of us go get a table and get all the
condiments and napkins and everything. I had ribs and they were really good. So
was the cornbread. Michael and the kids wanted to ride Expedition Everest
again, so Dad and I stayed behind and finished cleaning up from lunch and then
went over to wait for them on a bench for a little while by the monkeys. When
they got off, we all walked over to the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. That wait
wasn’t very bad at all. It was a nice safari. We saw all kinds of animals, even
a lion. We had to stop briefly for some zebras that were blocking the road.
After the safari, we
walked through the little gorilla path. Michael was pretty excited about that.
After that, we all went
to the Tamu Tamu restaurant so we could take a little break and have some
treats. Half of the stuff we wanted to order from Tamu Tamu was already sold out,
but we did get Simba Sunsets, which were basically Dole whip with strawberry
and coconut. They were pretty good. We sat around for a while debating about
what we should do next. Finally, we all agreed we should go on the Flight of Passage
again. The wait was going to be a little shorter. It ended up being quite a bit
shorter than last time. We had all said we wouldn’t want to wait in that line
again, but we did. Daniel wasn’t feeling great and we thought maybe his blood
sugar was dropping, so he and I went to the little gift shop and got some
chocolate chip cookies and sat and ate them while everyone else got in line. We
were just kind of relaxing a bit, and then they told us that they were already
up to the ride entrance and they waited for us there. We got there as fast as
we could. From there, the line wasn’t too bad at all. That line is really cool
because it even has a restroom in it.
Here is some of the
scenery and a video of the queue.
That ride was just as
cool the second time. Emily had pointed out that the wall behind us moved
during the ride, and that was really cool. Afterwards, Michael and the kids
decided they wanted to ride Expedition Everest and Dinosaur one more time before
we left for the day, so they did that and Dad and I went to find a spot near
the entrance to wait for them. We spent a few minutes figuring out where we
should go to dinner. By then, it was about 7:20pm and the park closed at 8pm,
so we figured we would eat somewhere off Disney property. We went to the car and
drove to Cracker Barrel. I was nervous it was going to be a long wait, but we
got right in. Unfortunately, it took a while to get our food. It was nice to
sit and relax and talk and eat. After dinner, we headed over to the townhouse.
Thankfully, the AC was fixed and working properly. We had scriptures and prayer
and then Michael and the kids and Papa watched Falcon and Winter Soldier. Once
they finished the show, everyone went to bed.
Saturday, March 20, 2021
Finally, a day we could
sleep in. Epcot didn’t open until 11am. Our plan was to leave by 10:30am, but
it was a little bit later than that. Dad had cooked up some eggs and ham and
sausage. We hurried everyone up as quickly as we could and got out the door by
about 10:45am. We pulled into the parking lot around 11:05am.
Dad snuck this shot of
us as we walked to our first ride.
We went straight to Mission
Space. We chose the more intense ride, the orange one. As we were standing
there listening to the instructions, I realized I had been on this ride before
and I hated it. The G forces were awful and made me feel sick. At the last
minute, I decided not to get on and I waited for everyone near the exit. Here
is everyone else coming off the ride.
Next, we went to Test Track.
It said the wait was 70 minutes, but I think it was way less than that, like
45. It kind of reminds me of Radiator Springs Racers, without the Radiator
Springs. It kind of jerks you around a little bit in the beginning so Dad was
worried about his back but he said he was OK. Then, it whips you around outside
at 65 mph and then that’s it. Our lunch reservation was for 2:15pm, so we
didn’t want to do anything that would make us late for that so we just headed
over to the World Showcase. We walked past Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, and
finally Italy where our reservation was.
We couldn’t resist
stopping in Norway for a picture with Elsa and Anna.
We also saw a cute miniature village when we walked past Germany. There was a pretty large group of people admiring the cute little town and trains. One of the trains started to fall off the track. It went through a little tunnel, and everyone watched with interest as it went through, hoping the tunnel could straighten it out again. The entire crowed groaned when it completely fell off its track. It was pretty comical that we were all so invested in the fate of this little train. Once we got to Italy, I walked into Tutto
Italia Ristorante and told them our reservation wasn’t for another half hour
but and I wondered if we could check in. They seated us right away. Jonathan
ordered the kids pizza and Emily ordered calamari, which was an appetizer but
she had that as her entrée. The rest of us all ordered the lasagna. We ate
everything! He brought us multiple trays of bread and that all got eaten too.
It was delicious! It was just as delicious as I remembered.
After that, we headed
back to Germany so that we could get Daniel a giant pretzel. They were truly
enormous, like bigger than a person’s head. We ended up getting a second one to
share. Next, we
headed over to France because everyone wanted to get treats in there. We
passed by the crepes and went to the Patisserie because that sounded really
good and it was. Emily went into the ice cream shop and got herself a chocolate
ice cream. It was so big she couldn’t finish it. We tried all kinds of treats: macarons,
mousse, a parfait, a tart, and a Napoleon.
Beauty and the Beast
garden statue in France. They were having a Flower and Garden Show.
Epcot ball!
Next, we wanted to ride
Spaceship Earth. That line was super short and we were glad we hadn’t done it
earlier in the day. It said 20 minutes but I think it was even less than that.
It’s kind of like the Carousel of Progress meets the People Mover with Judi
Dench as the narrator. It was super windy today. It was cold and the wind was
blowing really hard as we walked out of Spaceship Earth. Next, we went to the
Nemo ride. It’s kind of like The Little Mermaid ride but it was very cute. Then,
we walked around the aquarium. It had two levels and they had sharks, dolphins,
stingrays, manatees, coral, and all kinds of cool stuff.
Photo op with The Lion
King again
Next, we headed over to
Soarin’. We had to go in this big building and they had restaurants and all
kinds of cool stuff. The posted wait was 45 minutes but it was much quicker
than that, more like 20-30 minutes. It turns out that it’s exactly like the one
at California Adventure except instead of ending at Disneyland, it ends at
Epcot. Oh well. I still love that ride. After Soarin’, we walked over to the
cute little boat ride next-door, Living with the Land. It was really nice and
quite interesting. I loved seeing all of the greenhouses that they took you
through.
We went on Mission Space one more time. I wanted to try the green side.
With the Buzz Lightyear
statue outside of the Mission Space ride
After the ride, both
Daniel and Jonathan wanted to go back to the townhouse so I took them over to
meet Dad and we emptied the few things that were in the locker and left. The
rest of them went to Test Track and then to the World Showcase. We stopped at
Arby’s for some food. I wanted dad to drop me off at Walmart so I could get
some chicken and some salt and pepper. However, when I walked into the store it
looked like it was Black Friday because the line for the Scan and Go check out
went back halfway to the back of the store. There was no way I was going to
wait in that line so I walked right back out and Dad picked me up and we went
to the townhouse. Everyone ate their food and Dad and I played a few games of
backgammon. Daniel watched TV and then got ready for bed. Jonathan played some Fortnite
and then I sent him to bed. Then, I got ready for bed. While we were gone,
Michael, Nathaniel, Emily, and Andrew all went on Test Track again. They said the
wait was about 30 minutes. Then, they headed over to the World Showcase and
went to Mexico and got something to eat. They had empanadas and tacos. Then
they went on the Mexico ride and then the Frozen Ever After ride. Then, they
walked around the World Showcase for a while and explored. They got turkey legs
and pretzels. A lot of the restaurants were closed, unfortunately. It took them
a while to get out of the World Showcase and leave the park. By the time they
got home, it was about 11:30pm.
Sunday, March 21, 2021
Finally, it was our
rest day! I set my alarm for 9am thinking there was no way I would sleep that
long, but sure enough, I did. Michael made eggs and I heated up the pancakes
and sausage and bacon. Andrew helped with the bacon. Dad played cards with the
kids while we prepared breakfast. We had a nice meal together. Then we cleaned
everything up and played cards. All of us played about five hands of Phase 10
together. Then Dad needed to get on the road. We were sad to say goodbye to
Papa but we had a nice time with him here. Michael gave us a very nice lesson from
the Book of Mormon. Since I couldn’t buy the chicken yesterday, I made some macaroni
and cheese for a late lunch/early dinner.
We had a lot of fruit and lunchmeat and other things to eat as well. We spent
the rest of the day relaxing, reading, and playing games.
