Epcot Day

Today was our day to finish Epcot. We got there and went on Spaceship Earth, and then headed to Test track.  I think Leeza actually liked it.  Sasha did not.  She said it was too fast.  She didn't say a word on the ride and we had sat next to it for a while so they could see the ride before we went on it.  If you look close in the picture, the girls had ahold of the back of my shirt and were pulling down so hard that I thought the shirt would be stretched out forever.  After the ride, they had a bunch of new cars you could sit in.  The girls loved that part.

Then we headed over to the dinosaur ride-The Universe of Energy.  This was another ride we had talked about alot to make sure they would be fine on it.  They got through the first part where you stand and watch the movie.  Then we went to get in the ride vehicles.  As we were sitting there, they kept repeating over and over again-  "This ride lasts 37 minutes.  Once the vehicle gates close, you will not be able to leave for 37 minutes.  Please make sure you do not need a rest room or have any other reason to leave this ride for the next 37 minutes"  So everyone is fine.  The gates close. IMMEDIATELY, Leeza jumps in my lap and proceeds to repeat for the next 37 MINUTES- I want to get out of here!  Yes, I know exactly how long she sat there saying that.  Over and over and over again.  Nothing would distract her.  I'm sure the people next to us hated us as she wasn't very quiet.  So 37 minutes later, the ride ends, the tears ended about 37 seconds later and she was ready for ice cream.



Mom was now exhausted.  I saw this water play area and told the girls to go have fun while I sat to regroup after the Energy ride.

 They quickly got soaked from head to toe.  I had one set of clothes in my bag, but we went and bought new clothes at the nearby store.(Good Disney planning).  Leeza got into a competition with a little boy to see who could sit on the fountain in the center the most.  Here she is giving him the stare.

 Now it is his turn to stare at her while she sits on the fountain.  They went back and forth for quite a while.  Finally I decided it was time to go.  The little boy came running over to convince Leeza not to leave.  He didn't speak english, but you could tell he thought they were playing a game, while she was in a serious game of "That's my fountain go away"  We went and bought the expensive clothes.  I picked out Leeza some really cute shorts and somehow got them about 2 sizes too small.  She wore them back to the hotel anyway.

 We went and ate and swam again.  And settled in for a good nights sleep.

Mickey clip in her hair, she is ready for bed.  We ended our days pretty early, but we also got an early start most days. 

Park Day 4-Animal Kingdom and the Squirrel

Today we had early morning breakfast reservations at Tusker House at Animal Kingdom.  We got up really early and drove the car to the park instead of taking the bus.  We parked the car and got out just as the parking lot tram was pulling up.  As we got on the tram, a squirrel jumped out of the garbage can and ran across the parking lot right in front of us.  Remember this squirrel.  His story will come later.

We headed into the mostly empty park, went past the empty turnstills and into the park.  It was quiet and nice and was a good chance to really look around as we walked to the restaurant.

We stopped to take some pictures and enjoy some of the little things you rush by during regular park hours.

It was strange walking across the bridge alone, but gave this great photo op.  Little Sasha pushing Leeza all alone in the Animal Kingdom park.

Come on Mom, the whole park awaits us.  Hurry up!  And off they go.

The tree of life is in the background.  The park photographers are nice to have when you want the whole family in the picture.

Almost time to see the Disney gang.  This is a stock photo, they never posed like this for us.

Here we are showing our ferrocious side.  Growl!

Hey Look, Stitch popped up through the asphalt!

When we finally got to the restaurant, there was a line waiting to check in so the girls took advantage and explored the area.

Donald Duck was there to greet us.  How many pictures of Donald does this make now??

The person who seats you at your table is called your adventure guide.  This guy was ours.  He was really nice so we asked if he would take a photo with us.  He said no one ever asks and it would make his day. 

The first one to come to our table was Mickey in his safari gear.

One of the few times we saw Daisey Duck.  Love her eye lashes.

Pluto was very tall.

The breakfast buffet was good and the characters were fun.  Then it was off to the park which was now open.

The first ride was the safari ride.  The girls had a good time although it was a little bumpy at times

Lots of smiles and all had a good time.

We were really close to these guys, but they didn't care.  It was breakfast time.

After the safari tour, we went on the walking path to see the gorillas.  As we left that area, we came across this gorillas from Tarzan(I can't remember her name).  No one was there so the girls got to hug and play around a bit.

I never knew Leeza could lean that far!  After this, we went and saw the bird show.  I liked it.  The girls liked some of it, but it was a lot of talking about birds for them.

On our way inside the tree of life to see, It's tough to be a bug.

All of these animals are carved into the tree.  We finally got into the theater and got our glasses and the show started.  I had explained it to the girls, but as soon as it started, Leeza started saying- I want to get out of here!  She ended up on my lap for the whole show.  I don't think she saw much.  When the spiders dropped from the ceiling and the bug can sprayed out at the audience, I thought she was going to claw her through me.  She was not having fun.  "I do not want to do that again" was heard many many times after the show was finished.

We went over to the last ride we would do.   They were much happier back at the kiddie type rides.

It was hot and we were getting tired, but not too tired to have a little fun still.

They liked this ride since they could ride up front and mom had to sit in back.  We then played a couple of the carnival games there.  Sasha was amazing.  It was throwing the ball and they had to land in the special colored cups.  She got 2 balls in 2 prize cups so the girls won flying bats(one blue and one red) and 2 dragons.  Pretty good considering normally you never win anything at these games.

Now for the squirrel finale.  As we were leaving the park, having had our special breakfast, lots of fun rides, a BBQ lunch and seeing lots of unique animals, I asked the girls what was their favorite part of the day.  They both immediately answered without any hesitation-  THE SQUIRREL.  It took me a minute to remember the squirrel running past us in the parking lot.  I asked them if that was what they were talking about and they said yes Mommy, the squirrel we saw this morning.   So all the special things we had done that day did not quite measure up to the squirrel.  Kids- you never know what they are going to remember, but I will always remember the squirrel as one of my favorite WDW memories.

Later that night, we went to the marshmallow roast at the hotel.  The girls got to roast their own marshmallows.  They had a great time.  And it was free.  Something free at WDW-amazing.

We ate quite a few marshmallows on the beach that night and then went swimming in the main pool.  By now, they were swimming all over by themselves(with life jackets on).  They went on the big slide so many times I lost count.   No squirrel was seen at the pool.

Back to Magic Kingdom-Park Day 3

It was back to the Magic Kingdom to visit more princesses.  I wonder how many autographs we have from each princess by now? 

We were celebrating Halloween a few days early.

Hey look -is that Mommy in the picture?? 

There is a princess hall right in a building right inside the gatesof the MK. 

Cinderella was very nice and got down at the girls level.

One final princess and then it was off to Mickey and Minnie.

The light bulb is magic in the picture and seems to be lit up.

There they are- Mickey and Minnie.

The whole family together for the picture.

The area is nice and you get to spend a few minutes there without being rushed out. 

After the princess and mickey pictures, we were off to the park again to do some more rides.

Tinkerbell showed up for some pictures.

Welcome to the Magic Kingdom.  We missed these shots the first day since we were on the horse drawn carriage ride.

Mom and her girls.

Tinkerbell made a repeat visit. 

Sasha posed for some nice photos on the castle balcony.  Leeza stayed in the stroller.

Mom, her girls and the castle. 

Exploring Winnie the Pooh's house again.  They have made the waiting line really interesting now=lots of activities for the kids.

The girls got on the teacups and then were promptly kicked off.  Who knew you had to be 7 to ride this by yourself?  No way I could go on this-it would not be pretty.  A man saw them leaving the ride and offered to let them sit with his family.  Thanks!

Once again, after a few hours at the park, we headed back to the hotel.  This time we went to the beach.  It was a little cold, but they still wanted to swim.

 The hammock was a big hit.

 We pretty much had the beach to ourselves.  It was mid day and cold so no one else was around.  If you look across the lake, there is the Old Port Royale.  That is where the main pool, restaurants and stores are.

 This is what the room area looks like.

 Just hanging at the beach.  Leeza grabbed the camera and started taking pictures.

 There was a duck in the water.  Leeza followed it up and down the beach.  No swimming in the water otherwise, Leeza would have been in there after that duck.

 Sasha made some sand angels.

 Relaxing at the beach. 

All the pools were supposed to be heated.  We went to the quiet pool near our room.  It was NOT heated.  The girls went in anyway.  The water was freezing.  They swam for a while then got out.  Sasha is curled up since she was freezing.  Leeza spent 10 minutes getting the towel to fall exactly right on the chair and cover her and Sahsa exactly right.  We went over to the big main pool later on.  The girls discovered the big pool and the 3 story slide and they never went back to the kid area and the pirate ship.  They loved the big slides. They had life jackets on, but did pretty good swimming around in the deep water.