Goodbye Disney, we'll miss you!

On our last day at Disney, we were sure to be there early. We got to Epcot just as the gates were opening, and that meant that we really didn't have a lot of crowds to contend with there. Our first stop was the Kodak picture stop in front of the big sphere, then we went straight to Mission to Mars. G, Grandpa, Ralph and I went on a "Green" training mission (less intense), and it was a really cool simulation! Then the four of us went to the GM Test Track, which was also lots of fun. It was very fun to see G get so totally immersed in all of the make-believe...and really believe it all :-) From there, we went to half of the Innoventions Pavilion. We did a fun waste management interactive challenge, made some paper, and then avoided the other half, which had a bunch of video games (we knew better than to set ourselves up for a big problem getting out of there). After that, we went to the World Showcase area of Epcot. We went on the rides in the Mexico and Norway areas, had lunch in the China area, and then found our way to the Nemo Ride.

The evening before, we had plotted out (with G) all the attractions we wanted to see in Epcot, and all of the attractions we wanted to see again (or for the first time) back at Magic Kingdom. So, we boarded the tram and went to Magic Kingdom for Round 2. We went on a few new rides (Aladin's flying carpets, The Jungle Cruise, and Thunder Mountain roller coaster), and went back to favourites (Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Pirates of the Carribean, and so on). We made sure we got a chance to see the castle close up, and we even walked through it. We were ready to leave just as the parade was starting, so we saw both parades at Magic Kingdom.

After a late supper, we swam for about an hour (we promised the kids a late bedtime on our last night), did some laundry and got packed up, so that we could swim again in the morning before we needed to leave. It was so nice having Grandma and Grandpa with us, having an awesome heated pool, and having so much space to hang out in together.

A day off

After two full days of Disney, we decided to take it easy for a day. We started the day with a swim, then went over to Downtown Disney for lunch at the Rainforest Cafe and to check out LegoLand. The staff at Rainforest Cafe were awesome. The setting is so much fun inside, but it is REALLY noisy, and when the server mentioned that there was going to be a thunderstorm in a few minutes, G got a pretty panicked look on his face. So, we told them about his diagnosis, and the manager immediately moved us to an outdoor table, and assigned us his most senior server. Can I say again how much I love being in a place where everyone just gets it...and doesn't treat you like you're spoiling your kid because you don't want to subject them to something that is going to result in major sensory overload??

After lunch, we stopped in a Disney store where the kids chose an Eva and Wall*e stuffy for their souvenirs and posed with L's favourite, Sleeping Beauty. Then we went over to LegoLand where they have the most amazing lego creations. In one of the photos above, you can see G and L at a little people making station. Of course, you get to buy the people you make ($10 for 3 people). When I realized they were for sale, I told the kids that they could buy three, not realizing that G was already making his fourth. And so began the biggest meltdown of our entire trip. 45 minutes later, he had worked out a deal with his daddy that he would earn his second set of people by helping with laundry back at the house (paying us back with money from his piggy bank once we got home just wasn't going to cut it). So once all the tears were wiped we headed back to our house.

Before supper, Ralph, Grandpa, G and I went for a round of mini-golf (G had won a free round with a hole-in-one during his last game). We had a great time, and we ALL scored holes in one at least once! The person working at the booth didn't believe us, but she did give G another token. He wasn't too happy when he saw that I put it on a scrapbook layout about our trip, but we agreed that he could take it off the layout if we go back :-)