Think You Can Hold Up?: Disney Day 2: EPCOT and lots of WONDERFULNESS

Today. Was. Amazing.

I mean, EVERY day at Disney World is meant to be amazing. It's magical, after all. But TODAY? Oh, good golly.....

As I thought about/planned this trip, I knew it would look a little different from our past few trips. It has been a while since we did Disney with a two year old, and there's a certain PROCESS to it.

One part of the process happens WAY before you actually GO. You gotta REALLY prepare that little tyke to know the characters, the movies, the songs, etc. If they don't see things they're familiar with, it's just not as fun. So, there has been LOTS of homeschooling going on about a few of the classic Disney characters. Since Mary's not doing much in the way of conversation yet, I decided that keeping it to the non-talking characters might be more fun for her. They don't talk to her, she doesn't talk to them.... it works. So, my focus this trip was NOT the princesses, really (except for Cinderella.... we just love her), but I've made SURE she knows Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Chip and Dale, and Pooh and his gang. We weren't sure if she would love the characters or NOT love the characters (it can go either way with a two year old.... there's no middle ground here), but we were going to test it out today.

Now. At EPCOT, there's a little place called the Character Spot. It's one of the best places in all of Disney to see Mickey, Minnie, and one other classic friend (Goofy today) in their dressy, classic clothes. I've heard for years that if you're the FIRST family in line at the character spot for the day, that your ENTIRE group can get a picture made with ALL the characters at ONE time. This does NOT happen at Disney. Ever. Except for at the EPCOT Character Spot. But you HAVE TO BE FIRST.

So, that's what we planned to do. We got to EPCOT early and were second in line at our gate. Once the gates opened, I zoomed off. HOWEVER.... many, MANY people zoomed off faster than I did. I looked around and immediately assumed that these crazy MARATHONING DADS who were RUNNING PAST ME LIKE MANIACS had obviously heard that same rumor about the Character Spot, and I gave up hope before I even reached Spaceship Earth. My nephew Josh, however, kept the faith. He ran on past me, and when I rounded the corner to the Character Spot, JOSH was FIRST IN LINE! I ran up there and got the scoop..... YES..... we were going to get THE GROUP PHOTO. Oh, my word. Now we just hoped that Mary would actually LIKE IT.

Well. She. Did.

See for yourself.....

Note: Some of these pictures are sideways. I've been blogging for a while now and have YET to figure out how to turn those things around. So, just tilt your head or your computer....whichever. But do tilt, cause the cuteness is something you'll want to see right side up......

K. Let me start again....

Now we just hoped that Mary would actually LIKE IT.

Well. She. Did.

See for yourself.......

By the time we were finished, I was crying, Mudger and NN were crying, the cast members were crying. I tell you, it was a scene. A precious, beautiful, God-written SCENE.

After all that, we were ready to go. The trip was MADE and we could honestly have loaded back up in the car and called the trip a success. OH, but there was MUCH to do!

We headed over to The Land (just to check on the wait time for Soarin.... usually we head straight there and get in line cause it backs up AWFUL BAD, but we had to see Mickey first, so......) Well, it was 9:10 and the line was already yucky, so we hopped on an old favorite, Living with the Land. Mary's first official Disney ride was Living with the Land.... I find that hilarious. Anyhoo.... as I think will be a pattern on this trip, she loved it.

Then, the Raney fam headed off to Norway for their Princess breakfast (which we skipped cause character MEALS are a NIGHTMARE with a two year old - so we'll wait for another year on that one), so the rest of us followed through with a family tradition: Eat eggs at Soarin.

Normally, we wouldn't take time out of our schedule so early in the morning to sit down and eat, but this is something the boys have loved to do since they were LITTLE, and the Powells love some family tradition, so eat eggs we did. (Well, eggs for most of us. Jack gets this gigantic chocolate chip muffin.)

Then, it was off to Nemo at The Living Seas. Mary's been watching Nemo in the car and it's one of Max's favorite Disney movies, so everyone was excited.

There's NEMO! We found him! And Dory, too!

After we found Nemo, we headed over to Test Track. With this new Fastpass system, you can't get a Fastpass for both Soarin AND Test Track, so, since we had Soarin passes for later, we all the boys hopped on the Single Rider line at TT while the girls shopped a bit. And ate a snack. And colored a picture of Minnie Mouse.

(More to come on the new Fastpass system. Before I write a SCATHING blogpost that will SURELY get Disney's attention about how AWFUL this system is, I'm giving it a couple more days. But I don't like it. So there.)

Then, the boys all headed over to Mission Space and we took care of a few things.....

Some cute pictures in the spot that I ALWAYS take pictures.....

Some popcorn from Aunt Paige.....

Dad's sunglasses.....

And then the boys finally quit riding rides long enough to hang out with us!

By this time, the Raney people were done with their breakfast and back with us, so we all headed over to Soarin with our Fastpasses. We utilized the "child swap" and everyone went on the ride while Mom and Mary hung out on a bench. In about three seconds, Mary was SOUND ASLEEP. So, when the crew exited the ride, Mom decided to save her Fastpass for later. Cause holding your sleeping two year old is WAY better than riding Soarin. For REAL.

After ANOTHER trip over to Test Track with ALL the people and a trek through history on Spaceship Earth (which Mary LOVED), and the Coke stop (we love those free drinks!), we headed over to the World Showcase. First up on the agenda: meet Pooh and friends at the United Kingdom.

Here's her face when she looked in the room and saw Pooh and Tigger.....

And here's another great meeting! (Again, head tilt, people.)

Then some country photos....

Now. Here is where I would blog about going to the American Adventure. Here's where I would tell you that during the Voices of Liberty (a Powell FAVE), Mary fell fast asleep in her mother's arms. Here's where I would mention that she stayed asleep through MOST of the show..... but that right about the Great Depression, she WOKE UP. NOT HAPPY.

Here's where the blog would detail the MELTDOWN that was bound to happen at some point. That the meltdown lasted for an hour.... through several countries.....

We hoped that things would calm down a bit by the time we got to China, but alas, she was not quite right yet. So, the pictures that I'd dreamed about getting at China didn't happen. But it's okay. We've been there.

I would blog about all that, but I don't want to mention it.

Mom DID do a bit of shopping (while carrying a little one who kept shaking her head saying, "No, No, No, No, No....") We got three children's books about the various festivals that they celebrate in China! Plus a CUTE little China doll keychain!

I did try to get ONE picture.....

It did not go well.

And it MIGHT have been just after this at Norway where the entire family had a bit of a breakdown in communication for a bit. So, what do you do when your family is a bit off-track at Disney? REGROUP. That's right. You find a curb in some shade, sit down, and wait.... for just a bit..... and then, everyone will reboot and you proceed again. And that's just what we did.

Mary was still a bit agitated....but THEN when she saw Donald Duck on the ride at Mexico, she was ALRIGHT. Meltdown OVER. Peace returned to ALL. Thank you, Donald Duck.

To end our day, we headed back over to the front of the park and let the boys jump on the Universe of Energy ride (only we call it the Ellen ride). They love that thing.

Dad ran back over and got some fish and chips at the United Kingdom (Jack's favorite at EPCOT), and Mom and Mary had a little picnic.