Disney World 25-26, Day 1-2

The Big Christmas Surprise, that we all somehow managed to keep from the children, was that Pop and Grandma were taking us all to DisneyWorld for about ten days!!! They gave everyone a matching family shirt. Little L (4 yr old) hid hers in the air vent somehow, which took a while for Nia to find. Monday after Christmas we flew out at much-too-early a.m. and enjoyed dinner at the Rose and Crown in Epcot that night.

Our caravan of 11 (at full strength) was a half-chariot troop. Pop, Grandma, and I were in motorized scooters, A and L had their strollers, and Nia was in a wheelchair because of her sprained foot. It was sometimes a struggle to find enough people to push. I normally pride myself on my ability to walk and endurance, but standing in lines gives my back enormous pain, making the wonderful Disney parks a great trial. Our three strollers were decorated with Star Wars characters, inviting many friendly comments from our fellow vacationers.

Tue Dec 30 - EPCOT

We had breakfast crepes. Nia practiced her French with the waitress, who expressed pleasure at Nia's attempts. Right after breakfast most of us did Ratatouille and the key on my scooter broke. I had to climb out of the line to get a new key when the company's rep got there so I could move the scooter again. JT and Hyrum ran off by themselves to hit Soarin and Imagination while we were in line for Ratatouille.

L is particularly fond of Elsa's ride in Norway, so she took people with her in shifts so she could ride it many times without anyone else getting too sick of it. I hadn't been yet and am very impressed with how they remade the Viking ride. Joy: "I loved going on Elsa with L. She makes Disney so magical!" She runs around wearing princess costumes all the time, even at home, so she fits right in.

I took several pictures with odd decorations under the heading
"Me and my brother enjoying DisneyWorld".
He gave me permission to share this one. :)

Nia enjoys "Figgy", aka Figment's World of Imagination. We did Soarin' and visited the Epcot greenhouse called The Land. Nia: "There were lots of signs that tell you to stay off the sand. I think it's because there are tiny hermit crabs that will crawl out and bite you! Either that or there are things that digest stuff under the sand that will infect you." Or they just ask you to stay inside your boat at all times on all rides. I was impressed with how little soil was being used to grow such a very wide variety of plants. "They were BIG! Explosion of vines!!! Like the tomatoes, and the cucumbers, and I think there were some squash that big too."

Most folks did the Space ride, but I remember (from like 20 years ago) that the Mission Space ride was too much for me, so I stayed outside with L. In the middle of waiting, she suddenly crouched down in the middle of the plaza and cried out, "I am LOST! I don't know where my parents are!" A bunch of visitors were staring at her as I came up to comfort her. 'We know where your parents are. They are right inside that building there. They left me to take care of you.' I was most concerned that the staring people would suspect the guy in a goatee of nefariousness. Thankfully I could demonstrate that she trusted me and she was in my party, and let us go at that.

Joy was in line for the faster version, but eventually backed out because of all the signs warning of how extreme it was, so she never got the chance to enjoy it. I did eventually do the easy version with the kids on our second day in Epcot. 

A's favorite ride, and rightfully so, is the new Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind coaster. Nia and I agree it is one of the top three roller coaster/attractions of all time. The other two are Star Wars Rise of the Resistence and Universal's Harry Potter experience. Great, great experiences, one and all! It is so cool, how your cart manages to spin independently of the coaster, so it feels very much like you're going through a double corkscrew and ride backwards, but on minimal track changes. 

(Pictured, JT, Joy, A, and Steve on our later day.)

Joy and I have some confusion about which night was which, but Pop and Grandma weren't feeling up to it one night, so the rest of us headed to China for dinner, only to get there after they closed. The boys and I managed to pick up the last meals served in the America pavillion just before the fireworks started. Joy and Nia had been doing some shopping while Steve's crew did Elsa again. We finally all got together during or just after the fireworks.