On this trip to Disney World we decided not to get Park Hopper passes. Since we didn't have free dining, we knew we wouldn't be eating as many sit-down meals and wouldn't have to go to Epcot as many days to get to the good restaurants. But we did still go for a few of our favorite meals (we went for lunch instead of dinner and actually had to pay attention to the prices, but we still had some really nice meals). On our second day, we snagged a lunch reservation to Le Cellier, the Canadian steakhouse. We split a bowl of their yummy cheddar cheese soup, I had a salmon sandwich, and Matthew had a burger (Benji had a PB&J we brought with since we knew from past experience he won't eat anything at Le Cellier, except maybe breadsticks). So much nicer than a counter service chicken strips meal and not too much more expensive!
Of course Benji didn't go to Disney World for the meals. He is a thrill-seeking rideaholic! He remembered that Epcot has the Nemo ride, so that's where we went first-thing when we arrived. We also followed that with Turtle Talk with Crush, as we always do. That really is a cool show.
On our way to lunch we stopped at The Land to pick up fastpasses for Soarin' — Matthew's favorite ride. On a whim, we had Benji measure at the entrance. If he stood up super tall (not tip-toes; just not slouching), he was just barely tall enough! We had heard stories of kids who were tall enough for rides in the morning but had actually shrunk enough by afternoon (apparently we all shrink a little as the day goes by and our spines compress) that they weren't tall enough, so we decided to hop in the standby line right away. It was about a 45 minute wait, but they have interactive video game screens for the entire audience to play while you wait so Benji didn't get too antsy. Since he didn't know what ride was waiting for him (and we didn't want to get him too excited since there was still a chance he could be measured again at the end of the ride and not allowed on) we thought he would quickly lose interest and get cranky. But the video games made a big difference!
As we predicted, Soarin' was a fast favorite! Benji couldn't stop talking about the "flying ride" for the rest of the trip. And we loved that we could now take Benji on Matthew's favorite ride — more rides on Soarin' for Matthew, fewer baby swaps, and a really cool ride for Benji! Unfortunately, it also meant that Benji now loves the ride with the hottest fastpass in the park so we can't just get back in line over and over again like with Goofy's roller coaster or the teacups. He did adjust pretty well to the fact that we needed a ticket to get on and that sometimes the ticket wasn't good yet. We'd have him read the time on the ticket and show him the clock over the fastpass return. That way he could see for himself that the ticket wasn't good yet. In general, he's more willing to accept rules if they come from an entity other than Mommy and Daddy (i.e. he knows the fireworks mean the park is closing so he doesn't argue with us when we leave then).
While waiting for Soarin' fastpass times to come up during the rest of the day, we visited Mickey and Pluto, played the game show in Innoventions, went to World Showcase, rode Spaceship Earth (the golf ball), played the games at the exit for Spaceship Earth, and ate dinner. The game show in Innoventions is called "What's Your Problem?" and solves problems using Velcro. It's definitely corny, but it was a total riot with Benji. He stole the show from the other kids and I have a fantastic video! While in World Showcase we went to the United Kingdom pavilion where I knew the toy store sells the Mr. Men/Little Miss book series. It's the same price as any bookstore so I thought it would make a great souvenir. Benji picked out Mr. Dizzy and Little Miss Twins. We also watched street performers in the UK and saw the new Canada movie with Martin Short.
Late in the evening we went over to Soarin' to use our last fastpasses, but we got an extra bonus — two extra rides! The lines were so short very late in the day that after we used the fastpass we got back in the standby line for a super short wait. And then we tried again for a no-wait line for the very last Soarin' flight of the night. The "flight attendants" were surprised we had made it back around so quickly. And we learned that if you go over about 20 minutes before fireworks everyone else is staking out a viewing location and there's no one at the rides — a trick we would use every Epcot night. (While Benji loves the Magic Kingdom fireworks show, the Epcot one is less appealing to him and we figure he'd rather go flying three times.)
Benji holds on for dear life after Mommy put him on the railing for a photo.
A little calmer looking, but the sun is causing him to turn away.
Benji gets ready to play the "Stack It Up" game on the "What's Your Problem?" game show. The game was a tie, so everyone got winner stickers! Also notice the wheel in the background. Benji was the one selected to spin the wheel (which determines which game you play) which made him very happy.
At the Spaceship Earth exit there are various games you can play, including this one where you "push" "power" to the parts of the map that need it.
i sincerely do not know what you are doing here. are you lost? were you
looking for your delicate calico cat, and did you follow her up two flights of stairs
to this room? she is not here. she was here, yes. we gave her a warm bowl of milk, we talked with her about campaign finance reform for a time, and then she bid us good day. i believe she was
going to the post office two blocks down, but i don't quite recall.
for surely you did
not find your way from prinsiana, the least traveled site on
the internet. if you did, though, perhaps you are looking for humor. perhaps you are looking for profundity. perhaps you are looking for answers.
i'm sorry, but you shall go naught-for-three.
