Tanner Life

Disney Day 4
EPCOT

We decided for a first on the Tanner Disney trip and we made it to EPCOT before it opened, matter of fact about 45 minutes before it opened. We sat outside on a bench wondering why the other people were in standing in like, needing to be first? When they opened the turnstile we were able to get inside and then wait for the official "rope cutting" by the characters near the water fountain. It wasn't a big deal at all. What was neat, was that there were no lines in the character connection. Cole had slept the entire time we were waiting to get in, so we were anxious to see what kind of mood he would be in when we woke him up for something so different.

We decided to head straight to meet the characters and see what Cole would think. We only waited behind about 4 people and it took only a few minutes. I had waited a long time for my own little one to meet them and was so very excited. Would he laugh? Would he cry? Would he care??



It turned out he loved them! First up was the big guy himself, Mickey Mouse. Cole was a little shy at first and just starred and starred. He smiled and reached out for him after a minute.

The second one was Minnie and Cole absolutely loved her. He reached for her nose and tried to give her a kiss. (Ok, more like he was probably trying to take a bite out of her nose...but what's that minor detail worth?)

Donald was our least favorite and took up the least amount of time being interactive. We looked back at the pictures and all the other characters were so involved in playing with Cole and the pictures were of them hugging us or something. Donald was all about, here I am and it was kind of strange.



Pluto was fun and Cole loved the big ole doggie. It reminded him of his Millie & Gizmo at home.



Goofy was last and played Peek a Boo as we walked up, it was so fun. Cole really liked him. As we walked off when we were done Cole kept looking back over our shoulder for them.




We gave Cole a bottle and Daddy went to get fast passes for Soarin'. Then it was time for riding the Imagination ride and seeing Figment. He is one of my all time favorite characters and rides. I was one of the people who had a fit in 1999 when we went on our honeymoon and saw they tried for a brief moment to take Figment out of the Imagination ride, what were they thinking?! Thankfully, they fixed that pretty quickly. There have been periods on and off where you could meet him and I loved that. Currently though, he's not out.

Then we went to the Land where we rode the boat ride. (My friends girls call it the vegetable ride, so funny and I like that) It's also my Dad's favorite, Andy & Dad rode it one year over and over while Mom & I did other stuff one year. Anyway.... Cole found it....relaxing...





Then Andy & I took turns on Soarin' and holding a sleeping Cole. We had lunch in there too. Soarin' is one of our favorite things in 'all the world' these days. Then we ventured over to let Daddy ride as a single rider on Test Track while Cole & I shopped a little.

Daddy & Cole checking out the jumping water!

After that we decided to call it a day and head back for a nap time.

We had dinner reservations at Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It's a very neat place to visit, with the animals just outside the doors. It was dark early though and we didn't get to see them this time. They have night vision goggles, but we've never been able to see animals through them. While it's a neat resort, it isn't on my list of places I want to stay.

Boma is very good though and we had a super awesome waiter. When I learned that my favorite, butternut squash soup, wasn't on the buffet that night ... I was sad and the waiter ended up coming back bringing us both a bowl. How sweet was that? I have tried every brand of butternut squash in the stores, ordered it several places and there is the only place I like it. It tastes like a piece of pumpkin pie, that's melted. It was so sweet this time I almost couldn't eat all of mine and couldn't touch Andy's. (Which had been my plan ;) Anyway, it was super sweet of our waiter. We were always a little nervous about trying it and it's "African theme cuisine", but there is a huge variety to choose from and it's very good. I do recommend it to people often.

Cole ended up sleeping all the way there, through dinner and all the way back. Poor baby probably thought we'd never left.