Day Four ~ Epcot ~ Happy Birthday, Princess!

Finally day of parks!  Epcot was our destination.  The first stop was the visitor center to get our new 12-year-old an "It's My Birthday" pin.  She was greeted the entire day with "Happy Birthday!" and "Happy Birthday, Princess!"

After that we went straight to the FastPass kiosk and made our selections.  We scheduled everything for late in the day because we had lunch reservations in another part of Disney.  More on that later.

After setting up our FastPass plans, we headed over to the Mission to Mars ride.  Daddy (WISELY) took the green less crazy/spinny/make you want to barf version.  These rides usually don't bother me, so I went with the kids.  I had regrets.  Let's leave it at that....

Did a little shopping next.  Miranda got some great ears to go with her smile.  Sam used the rest of his gift card and bought her a pillow pet she wanted.  He's a swell guy.  Then we got on the Monorail you see behind her to head for our very special birthday brunch at The Grand Floridian (below).  We had a bit of an adventure when our connecting Monorail ride broke down.  We ended up walking through the Polynesian Resort and along the lakeside for about 15 minutes.  It was a really pretty (although a little sweaty) detour. 

Now, I don't consider myself a super frufru girl, but I could get used to this resort scene.  Look at this lobby.

Our reservation was at 11:40 at the awesome 1900 Park Fare restaurant in The Grand Floridian.   I had hoped to book a dinner, but we waited a little too long.  Lesson learned...it was still super fun even if we did walk into a cloud of maple syrup and glitter :)

Miranda was excited to see characters walking around.  I wouldn't say the characters are really magical to us...we all have trouble letting go of the fact that they are people dressed up and wearing mascot costumes, but it was fun.

Here's a shot of my plate before I devoured it.  The waffles were magical (to me) and that's also a crepe, lobster Benedict, and roast beef hash.  

Mary Poppins

Tigger

Alice

The Madhatter

AND....SURPRISE!  A birthday cake!

Again, the posing!?!?

She slept in her French braids the night before.  Pretty blond waves.

Sam had just about as much fun on the Monorail as he did on any ride.

When we finally got back to Epcot, we went to Test Track and created our own virtual concept vechicles.  

My and Miranda's vehicle...complete with purple paint and flowers.

Sam and Ray's....very manly.

After designing them we got to "test drive" them on the track.  It was a great ride that gets fun creative points for the before ride activity and bonus points for the photo ops and games after the ride.

The Flower and Garden Festival was in full swing while we were there.  Beautiful!

We had planned to walk around the World Showcase and really take in all the international sights.  We got sidetracked in France at the portrait makers for over an hour though.  Mama was apologetic for slowing the fam down, but I think we all enjoyed the process and can't wait to display them at home :)

I think three of us look like typical Disney characters, but Ray's really looks like him!  I am married to Prince Charming!

We sped through the rest of the world and got back to the ball to ride Spaceship Earth.  We then had a little time to burn so we went to see Turtle Talk with Crush.  It turned out to be such a funny hit.  Crush (the daddy turtle from Nemo) is on a big screen at the front of the room and interacts in a Q&A format with the little kids sitting on the floor below him.  It was funny and very well done.  We ended our evening's rides with Soarin' which is like an imax movie that you hang above.  You are suspended above the screen and fly over famous cities and nature.  When flying over pine trees you smell pine and  an orange grove gave us a blast of citrus.  It was relaxing.

We ended our Disney experience with the IllumiNations reflections of earth.  It was fun, although we were a little far away to really get the impact of the video globe.  The lasers and fireworks were fun and it didn't last too long.  

Here's the last shot of our Disney vacation.  We had a fantastic time, and are already talking about what we will do next time (after we save A LOT of pennies...our wallets are empty :)!

Day Three ~ Hollywood Studios ~ The Day Sam Earned His Roller CoasterStripes

We were fairly well rested after taking Tuesday off to play in the pool and watch tv.  Sam was excited with his newfound roller coaster bravery.  We were ready to see what Hollywood Studios had to offer.    

We took advantage of our early arrival and headed straight to the Tower of Terror.  Sam was flabbergasted that we would start with such a scary ride.

"What are we doing?"

"This is a warm-up?!!?  I don't think you people know what 'warm-up'm means!!!"

It was like the Haunted Mansion on steroids.  Really well done.  Beautiful and creepy at the same time.

Sam was on the verge of hyperventilating and a little boy in the row in front of us turned around and reassured him that it was just like a "hoppy frog".  Sam took him at his word, relaxed a little, and did enjoy it.  Thanks, kid....you saved the day.

Next up after our warm-up was the Rockin' Roller Coaster where Aerosmith jams out with you.  Grandpapa and Daddy Larry, we took this picture for you!  You kind of walk through little museums before and after a bunch of the rides. 

It was Sam's first over-the-shoulder-strap-in-flip-upsidedown coaster.  He loved it!!!  Thanks to Disney's tendency to turn the lights off (aka shut your eyes for you, according to Ray) on scary rides, he didn't get as freaked out looking at the turns before they actually happened.  Brilliant, Disney, brilliant.  

Here was our FastPass plan for the day.  We rode two of these rides before getting this.  It was nothing but happy anticipation beforehand instead Sam's usual dread.  I think he's finally turned the corner.

(Mom, this Gone with the Wind shot is for you)

We decided to ride The Gread Movie Ride next.  You take a little tram through some studio sets and visit a lot classics.  This is an icognito shot of the kids in the Wizard of Oz set.  

Love this shot!

More of the Disney magic captured as they held hands and walked to the Muppet Vision 3D.

I remember watching the Muppets Show ALL THE TIME as a kid.  These guys were well represented with Disney's awesome animatronics.  

This was our warmest day so far.  You can see a little bit of a sweaty glow on our faces here as we wait for the Indian Jones Epic Stunt Spectactular.  It was pretty cool.  I will upload some video of Sam's reactions to the stunts when we get to some better WIFI.

Cool airplane writing after the stunt show.

My boy can strike a pose!

Stacy always finds the local library!

Our first character photo.

That's a Yoda backpack.  Cracked Miranda up!  We did the Star Tours twice.  GREAT ride.  They have a lot of different show parts the put together differenty, so there are a lot of different ride experiences.  

We had some time to kill so we decided to wait the hour in the Toy Story ride.  Luckily, it only ended up being about 30 minutes.  Mommy won this shooting game, too.  What can I say?  The photo above is Miranda looking very nervous with the Pixar-like lamp.  

The Studio Backlot Tour was cool to see how special effects are done and to see the behind the scenes of movie magic.

Below is Mr. Disney's personal plane. 

Sam and his intense interest in Walt Disney's life led us to the Walt Disney: One Man's Dream exhibit.  

We got to see a lot artifacts from his life as well as a short documentary at the end.  I see a book purchase in his future.

We rode our two big rides one more time, and then we decided to go get seats for the Fantasmic show.  It was pretty intense.  The mouse ears that glow are called "Glow with the Show" and they have some kind of electronics in them that coordinates with the show.  They were glowing certain colors and at different rhythms at various parts of the show.  Fun techno stuff.

Most of the show was shown on projectors through water that was sprayed from the lake.  There was also great theatrical elemeents and of course fireworks.  Glad we got to see it.  This is the boat at the end with all the popular characters on it.  The kids were waving their arms off at them.

Hollywood Studios was great.  I didn't expect a lot, but I think it might have been our kids' favorite day in terms of action and thrills.