Annie'sMom
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
Day 7 - Sunday, November 12, 2000
Me â 42, Single mom and Disney fanatic. The first question my co-workers ask when I return from vacation is, âÂÂSo, when are you going back?â I live in Central Missouri and typically depart from St. Louis Lambert Airport, which is about a 1.5 hour drive from home.
DD â 4-year-old diva. IâÂÂm serious; this girl has a future on the stage or screen. She loves to sing and dance and loves all things Disney, too.
The plan was to spend this morning at Epcot and this afternoon doing a little shopping at the Belz Disney Outlets. But we headed over to the MK initially to see if we could meet Leslea. We arrived a little after 8:00 and were surprised to see that the park was already open for the day. The greeter indicated that the rides werenâÂÂt running yet but the park was open. I took advantage of the deserted Main Street to do a little video taping of DD dancing on Main Street. It was wonderful! Very few people had arrived and we just enjoyed hanging around Town Square and Main Street. We finally met Leslea! She was working on Main Street and that meant she was driving the Main Street Vehicles! She looked so cute in her costume. We agreed to meet at the Contemporary after she got off work to go out to dinner. IâÂÂm so glad we finally met up with her. Unfortunately, DD was not very nice to her. I donâÂÂt know what the problem was. It has been a while since we had seen her, but she should have eventually warmed up to her, which she didnâÂÂt. I think DD thought I was going to leave her there with Leslea, since the only other times sheâÂÂd seen Leslea was when she babysat for us when I was at work. Oh well, Leslea was a good sport about it!
We hopped on the monorail and went to Epcot. When we got to Epcot, of course, our APs got rejected since we had just used them. I explained to the CM that we had already been at the MK. She said, âÂÂI didnâÂÂt think you could even make it over here by this time from the MK!â I told her that the MK had opened early this morning. We went in and headed towards Innoventions. I didnâÂÂt understandâ¦.they were closed. I looked at my watch and it wasnâÂÂt even 9:00 yet! We entered Innoventions at 9:00 and went immediately to the email postcards. I was able to send several because there was no line. We then spent some time in the kidsâ area, which is right near the email stations. DD had a delightful time playing some educational games. What was really great was that the screens were mainly touch screens, so she didnâÂÂt have to use a mouse, which she has difficulty with. We then went back and sent a few more postcards. I think those are great. They are certainly more convenient than fooling with snail mail postcards and you donâÂÂt beat them home! We probably spent around an hour at Innoventions.
After we left Innoventions, we headed towards the Universe of Energy. We missed this last year, so I was glad to see it again. I think Ellen is hilarious and DD loved the dinosaurs. ItâÂÂs a fascinating ride, although you can certainly see ExxonâÂÂs influence as the various types of energy are discussed. Oh well, we enjoyed the ride. At this point, DD is requesting lunch. ItâÂÂs only 10:30, but the Pasta Piazza is open so we went in. Last year, DD had a Mickey pizza and she has been requesting another one since we got here. She got the pizza, and I got the meatball sandwich. I thought the food was pretty good. Throughout this trip, we ate lunch at 10:45 to 11:00 and never had to wait in line. This worked much better than trying to do breakfast. DD is not a breakfast eater, even at home. That is an advantage, as it gets us out of the room much faster on EE mornings. We ate an early lunch and then an early dinner and avoided the lines. We usually had a late snack back in the room at the end of the day, so we never went hungry. By the time we finished eating, it was time for World Showcase to be open so we headed there next.
I was sorry to hear that Disney had removed the characters from the countries in World Showcase. To be honest, that caused us to spend much less time there. For a 4-year old, there was very little of interest without the characters. We had planned to do the Kidcot stations, but they donâÂÂt open until 1:00, so those were out. We strolled counter clockwise through WS, beginning with Canada. DD did spend a little time in UK playing hopscotch. Someone had drawn it on the ground by the Rose and Crown. We went into some shops and just did a leisurely stroll around. One of the CMs in the UK showcase, spent a good deal of time seriously discussion Teletubbies with DD. I thanked her and her country, on behalf of all preschool parents in the US, for bringing us the Teletubbies plagueâ¦.err craze. We did a brief tour of France. I feel such a sense of nostalgia here. I am a former French teacher and studied in Paris during my junior year in college. If I was still teaching, I could make use of some of the stuff they sell in this pavilion. Then we arrived at Morocco.
I had never ventured back into Morocco, but we did this time. It is just gorgeous! How have I missed this before? We did make a brief stop at the American Adventure to share a Mickey ice cream bar. We also spent some time at the drums by the African outpost. DD had a great time, and I got to visit with a delightful family. It is quite interesting to hear all the Disney show tunes sung (by DD) to the beating of native drums! I took some time to look at the Food and Wine Festival booths, as I was hoping to leave DD with Leslea on Tuesday night and spend a little time on my own hear. Would I get a chance? Stay tuned! I think this is a really neat opportunity to try lots of different foods and not worry about wasting big bucks on a dinner that they might not enjoy.
It was getting on towards 2:00, and we needed to get back to the Contemporary to get the car and go do some shopping! DonâÂÂt ask me why we didnâÂÂt just drive to Epcot; I have no idea. We headed towards Belz outlets, and I found them without getting lost. International Drive is really a zoo! I didnâÂÂt take DDâÂÂs stroller because she is used to going shopping with me without it. Of course, she complained about how tired she was while we were shopping. I did major damage at both stores. I could have spent even more, but I did exercise a little restraint. I found a sweatshirt for DD with Figment on it for $9.00. I also got her a millennium t-shirt, a Minnie sweatshirt, a WDW Barbie and I got myself several shirts as well. As I said, I could have spent much more! We didnâÂÂt check out the new store on 535, so I guess weâÂÂll have to check that out next time. Before I even knew it, it was time to head back to get ready to meet Leslea. We got back and I took a shower and changed my clothes. DD played and had a sponge bath.
We met Leslea at about 6:00 in the lobby of the Contempoary and headed to TGIFridays for supper. I had a gift certificate from Freeride, so the dinner only cost me $5.00. We had a nice visit and I enjoyed hearing the inside story of working for Disney from Leslea. It was also interesting to hear her opinions of the WDW College Program. I asked her if anyone had ever asked her when the 3:00 parade started, and she said she hadnâÂÂt had that particular question, although she did wonder at how much trouble people seem to have just trying to get through the turnstiles. Some of her stories had me laughing so hard I was crying. We returned to the room and DD went to bed shortly thereafter. It got sort of late, so I invited Les to spend the night with us. She accepted and we turned out the lights not long after that. However, we talked and laughed for a long time. IâÂÂm so glad she decided to stay; although she was little concerned about her truck because she had one of those 3-hour parking passes. Just to put your minds at ease, she was neither ticketed nor towed the next morning!
Me â 42, Single mom and Disney fanatic. The first question my co-workers ask when I return from vacation is, âÂÂSo, when are you going back?â I live in Central Missouri and typically depart from St. Louis Lambert Airport, which is about a 1.5 hour drive from home.
DD â 4-year-old diva. IâÂÂm serious; this girl has a future on the stage or screen. She loves to sing and dance and loves all things Disney, too.
The plan was to spend this morning at Epcot and this afternoon doing a little shopping at the Belz Disney Outlets. But we headed over to the MK initially to see if we could meet Leslea. We arrived a little after 8:00 and were surprised to see that the park was already open for the day. The greeter indicated that the rides werenâÂÂt running yet but the park was open. I took advantage of the deserted Main Street to do a little video taping of DD dancing on Main Street. It was wonderful! Very few people had arrived and we just enjoyed hanging around Town Square and Main Street. We finally met Leslea! She was working on Main Street and that meant she was driving the Main Street Vehicles! She looked so cute in her costume. We agreed to meet at the Contemporary after she got off work to go out to dinner. IâÂÂm so glad we finally met up with her. Unfortunately, DD was not very nice to her. I donâÂÂt know what the problem was. It has been a while since we had seen her, but she should have eventually warmed up to her, which she didnâÂÂt. I think DD thought I was going to leave her there with Leslea, since the only other times sheâÂÂd seen Leslea was when she babysat for us when I was at work. Oh well, Leslea was a good sport about it!
We hopped on the monorail and went to Epcot. When we got to Epcot, of course, our APs got rejected since we had just used them. I explained to the CM that we had already been at the MK. She said, âÂÂI didnâÂÂt think you could even make it over here by this time from the MK!â I told her that the MK had opened early this morning. We went in and headed towards Innoventions. I didnâÂÂt understandâ¦.they were closed. I looked at my watch and it wasnâÂÂt even 9:00 yet! We entered Innoventions at 9:00 and went immediately to the email postcards. I was able to send several because there was no line. We then spent some time in the kidsâ area, which is right near the email stations. DD had a delightful time playing some educational games. What was really great was that the screens were mainly touch screens, so she didnâÂÂt have to use a mouse, which she has difficulty with. We then went back and sent a few more postcards. I think those are great. They are certainly more convenient than fooling with snail mail postcards and you donâÂÂt beat them home! We probably spent around an hour at Innoventions.
After we left Innoventions, we headed towards the Universe of Energy. We missed this last year, so I was glad to see it again. I think Ellen is hilarious and DD loved the dinosaurs. ItâÂÂs a fascinating ride, although you can certainly see ExxonâÂÂs influence as the various types of energy are discussed. Oh well, we enjoyed the ride. At this point, DD is requesting lunch. ItâÂÂs only 10:30, but the Pasta Piazza is open so we went in. Last year, DD had a Mickey pizza and she has been requesting another one since we got here. She got the pizza, and I got the meatball sandwich. I thought the food was pretty good. Throughout this trip, we ate lunch at 10:45 to 11:00 and never had to wait in line. This worked much better than trying to do breakfast. DD is not a breakfast eater, even at home. That is an advantage, as it gets us out of the room much faster on EE mornings. We ate an early lunch and then an early dinner and avoided the lines. We usually had a late snack back in the room at the end of the day, so we never went hungry. By the time we finished eating, it was time for World Showcase to be open so we headed there next.
I was sorry to hear that Disney had removed the characters from the countries in World Showcase. To be honest, that caused us to spend much less time there. For a 4-year old, there was very little of interest without the characters. We had planned to do the Kidcot stations, but they donâÂÂt open until 1:00, so those were out. We strolled counter clockwise through WS, beginning with Canada. DD did spend a little time in UK playing hopscotch. Someone had drawn it on the ground by the Rose and Crown. We went into some shops and just did a leisurely stroll around. One of the CMs in the UK showcase, spent a good deal of time seriously discussion Teletubbies with DD. I thanked her and her country, on behalf of all preschool parents in the US, for bringing us the Teletubbies plagueâ¦.err craze. We did a brief tour of France. I feel such a sense of nostalgia here. I am a former French teacher and studied in Paris during my junior year in college. If I was still teaching, I could make use of some of the stuff they sell in this pavilion. Then we arrived at Morocco.
I had never ventured back into Morocco, but we did this time. It is just gorgeous! How have I missed this before? We did make a brief stop at the American Adventure to share a Mickey ice cream bar. We also spent some time at the drums by the African outpost. DD had a great time, and I got to visit with a delightful family. It is quite interesting to hear all the Disney show tunes sung (by DD) to the beating of native drums! I took some time to look at the Food and Wine Festival booths, as I was hoping to leave DD with Leslea on Tuesday night and spend a little time on my own hear. Would I get a chance? Stay tuned! I think this is a really neat opportunity to try lots of different foods and not worry about wasting big bucks on a dinner that they might not enjoy.
It was getting on towards 2:00, and we needed to get back to the Contemporary to get the car and go do some shopping! DonâÂÂt ask me why we didnâÂÂt just drive to Epcot; I have no idea. We headed towards Belz outlets, and I found them without getting lost. International Drive is really a zoo! I didnâÂÂt take DDâÂÂs stroller because she is used to going shopping with me without it. Of course, she complained about how tired she was while we were shopping. I did major damage at both stores. I could have spent even more, but I did exercise a little restraint. I found a sweatshirt for DD with Figment on it for $9.00. I also got her a millennium t-shirt, a Minnie sweatshirt, a WDW Barbie and I got myself several shirts as well. As I said, I could have spent much more! We didnâÂÂt check out the new store on 535, so I guess weâÂÂll have to check that out next time. Before I even knew it, it was time to head back to get ready to meet Leslea. We got back and I took a shower and changed my clothes. DD played and had a sponge bath.
We met Leslea at about 6:00 in the lobby of the Contempoary and headed to TGIFridays for supper. I had a gift certificate from Freeride, so the dinner only cost me $5.00. We had a nice visit and I enjoyed hearing the inside story of working for Disney from Leslea. It was also interesting to hear her opinions of the WDW College Program. I asked her if anyone had ever asked her when the 3:00 parade started, and she said she hadnâÂÂt had that particular question, although she did wonder at how much trouble people seem to have just trying to get through the turnstiles. Some of her stories had me laughing so hard I was crying. We returned to the room and DD went to bed shortly thereafter. It got sort of late, so I invited Les to spend the night with us. She accepted and we turned out the lights not long after that. However, we talked and laughed for a long time. IâÂÂm so glad she decided to stay; although she was little concerned about her truck because she had one of those 3-hour parking passes. Just to put your minds at ease, she was neither ticketed nor towed the next morning!
