We Can Fly, We Can Fly, We Can Fly......We Flew Trip Report About This Page:

[omd]

A fun day at Epcot. I feel bad that Abby gets so stressed about the fireworks illuminations is my favorite thing at WDW. My favorite picture is you with Pluto

[LegoMom]

LOVE the pics in this set! GG sounds like a great place to eat. I'd like to try it one day. I'm impressed with your hunt for pennies!! We seem to grab one here and there, when we happen to see a machine. Oddly enough, my latest quest at WDW is taking pictures of the trash cans....I heard a bus driver say that there are over 2,000 designs around the World!!

.

[phoebec]

Sorry about your fireworks meltdown. We had one of those on our last trip but unfortunately the fireworks started right as we entered future world from the showcase, so the trip from future world to the bus was wild and crazy. The funny thing is now he loves fireworks and we were able to go to a 4th of July display for the first time this year. Maybe she will come around to them someday!!!

[Canada Amy]

love catching a glimpse of some of your pics, Darlene. funny to see the same girl doing the bird show who is in our pictures : ) love that pic of Lenny and Darlene. you are blessed.

[Chancho]

Another great day! You all look so happy in your pics. I love the one of Abby & Aurora. It looks like Abby is pulling on her shorts just like Aurora and the dress....priceless! I can't wait to hear more of your adventures.

[OneLittleSpark]

We keep trying to go to GG but it just keeps not working out for us. Including next trip as I already have set what meals we are doing. We will make it there someday though! It sounds really good.

You got some great pics at Epcot today. I like sleeping in a couple days during out trip too.

[alexsmommy0412]

Sounds like you had a nice day a Epcot. We love the GG and try to go there on our Epcot day. Your hunt for pennies sounded like fun. Alex loves those machines so I'm sure we will be doing some of our own hunting. Just printed the list today actually. Thanks for the tip about EE. He's actually never been on a roller coaster and just watching EE I can only imagine what it's like. I want try him on what used to be the barnstormer and BTM before anything else. Can't wait to hear more!

[manticorjenn]

Thanks for letting me know that Donald is only outside for pictures at TH. I haven't been there before and from the Disney website I would have expected him to be there. Sounds like you had another great day at Epcot and a very successful penny hunt. Can't wait to read more.

[CinderAbby]

Originally Posted by B.M.

Glad yall got to spend some time in World Showcase! Glad Abby calmed down once yall were out of the park.... My oldest son wanted to be long gone from Disney before it even started to get dark out of fear of the fireworks also..... But he has done the opposite of Abby; as he's gotten older- he can tolerate them..... Even at 16, I wouldn't say he loves them, but he can tolerate them.... This past Christmas, for the first time ever we were able to see one of Disney's firework shows.....

That is so cool you could finally see the fireworks - especially at Disney. No one does them like Disney. I'm not sure why Abby flipped out so badly on me. I can only begin to guess and I don't know that Abby can really tell me why other than she didn't want to be there.

Originally Posted by mdobereiner

Another great update- and as expected, I love all of your photos from GG with the characters- that really has to be one of the best meals in terms of character interactions (and the food is good too!)

I'm so impressed with your pressed penny dedication- your collection has got to be something pretty cool to see

Can't wait for the next update!
Mel

I totally agree - GG IS the best with the character interaction. It's the only meal I've been to that not only do we see the characters quickly, we also see them multiple times and they interact with us every time.

As for my pennies, thanks for reminding me - I'm going to have to take another picture of all of them again to post at the end of my TR.

I'm going to post another update today - hopefully in a little bit before Abby gets home from school.

Originally Posted by num1DVCfan

Sounds like a wonderful day at Epcot. I'm another person who is impressed with your pressed penny collection. We've started one for Sean, but it isn't anything extensive yet.

It was a really good day at Epcot. For our penny collection - we're just a little bit addicted to them . I swear anywhere we go now we look for them

Originally Posted by Cam22

I'm with Mel, very impressed with your hunt for the pennies. Stefanie did these for a couple of years and then lost interest. You all had another full day, too. I was thankful tonight that I was too full to feel hungry reading about GG. I love food and characters there. Great pictures today, too!

Thanks Cam. I hear what you're saying about being full before reading a TR. I too find myself getting hungry when I read about the meals other people have had. For our pennies, I'm not sure who's more addicted to them - me, Lenny or Abby.

Originally Posted by dutchdisneyfamily

Great day at Epcot! Your meal at GG sounds great. Nice running into another PP too! We have started a pressed penny collection yet but it sounds like a great thing to do.

We did have a great day and meal. The pressed pennies are fun IMO and they're the least expensive souvenir you can actually buy. Not to mention, they hardly take up any room in the luggage or carry on. I do like running into other PPers because then they're not just a screen name to me.

Originally Posted by mcc0313

A sleep in morning is always a good thing Even with getting to the park around 11 you got tons done. Another great day and glad you had such a wonderful meal at GG. It has been too long since we have been there...it missed the list this year but I hoping we make our way back there sooner rather than later. We always enjoyed it.

Sorry that Abby got nervous about the fireworks, glad that she relaxed by the time you got to the car. It looked like you had a very productive evening before that though in the World Showcase....lots of new pennies

GG really is enjoyable and I do recommend it to people so definitely return there. We did have a great day in Epcot and WS. In a way, it would have been nice to explore more but we did what was important to do (pennies and Mexico ).

Originally Posted by kingfamily1129

You were on a penny mission today and sounds like you were a success! I love GG too! The food is really good and, from what I remember, the service was good as well. Sounds like you all had a busy but fun day!

Can't wait to hear more!

We really were having fun by that time. Lenny's grumpiness was gone and we were definitely in the Disney bubble. And the fact that none of the penny machines were down just added to it. We did have a successful day at Epcot and it's days like that when we wish we had more time at Disney.

[CinderAbby]

Originally Posted by DMA

I'm loving your TR because you are doing quite a few things that we have planned for next week! We're trying GG for the first time (don't know why we've never eaten there before) and looking forward to it!
You're photopass pictures are great! I like the balloon trick shot!

Thanks - I'm so glad you're reading it and enjoying it. It does make me happy when we do things others plan to do and it helps make them excited for it or relieve their minds of any questions they might have. I hope you enjoy you're own trip and have a magical time.

Originally Posted by patclairesmom

Sorry Abby got upset about the fireworks, but it seems like you had another great day. I love the picture with the balloons and you holding onto Abby.

Believe it or not (I didn't mention it above but it applies there as well) when we had that magic shot taken, it was by a new CM "earning his ears" and as soon as he took it, the CM training him came over and told him he wasn't to do magic shots there. They had their own "language" which I didn't get but the photographer who did the picture explained that to us that certain pictures can be taken only with certain backgrounds. What he did was put SSE behind us and he wasn't suppose to. I think if he had turned us in another direction it would have been fine but oops. It was a learing experience for him and a unique shot for us.

Originally Posted by Roxie2006

Sometimes it does feel good not to have to leave so early in the morning to get to a Park. Enjoyed the reading at GG with the characters. We have never been, but next year when we take our DGS and DGD I plan on making this one of our TS. I have heard nothing but great reviews about the food. All the GG photos are awesome and you can tell all was having fun!!! Glad all worked out for Abby getting out the park in time. I must say, Abby with the rose boarder and pixie dust is a very sweet photo of Abby, I really like that 1. You have many great photopass memories in Epcot too!!!

Thanks - I highly recommend GG for dinner. I really think you'll enjoy it as we have. It's a must do for us at Epcot just because we enjoy it so much. Thanks about the pictures. I don't know if I mentioned it already but when you add the Photopass pictures we have to what we took, we have close to 1300 pictures from this year so lots of memories from this year.

Originally Posted by KMB733

Great job hunting for pennies! Sounds like a great time at Epcot and dinner at GG sounds delicious!! Great pictures with the characters!!

Thanks Kathy, it was a great day at Epcot with everything.

Originally Posted by omd

A fun day at Epcot. I feel bad that Abby gets so stressed about the fireworks illuminations is my favorite thing at WDW. My favorite picture is you with Pluto

Thanks Olive. It was a fun day and I'm really not sure why Abby was so stressed about the fireworks that night. I'm not sure she can even tell me why but thankfully it didn't last and didn't turn into a full blown meltdown. As for me and Pluto, yeah I haven't been in too many photos have I? I'm glad you like that one though as I'm really, really picky about what ones I choose with me (and there weren't many this year).

Originally Posted by LegoMom

LOVE the pics in this set! GG sounds like a great place to eat. I'd like to try it one day. I'm impressed with your hunt for pennies!! We seem to grab one here and there, when we happen to see a machine. Oddly enough, my latest quest at WDW is taking pictures of the trash cans....I heard a bus driver say that there are over 2,000 designs around the World!!

.

I've heard that too about the trash cans and truthfully, I don't find it off that you want to find and photograph them all. They are themed just like everything else at Disney so why not? It would certainly be a great conversation starter - "where did you find this one?" etc. We enjoy the pennies and although Abby doesn't often get involved, Lenny and I sit there and talk Disney - where we found them, what we might have been doing when we looked for it, etc and of course one Disney comment leads to another so those too are a great conversation starter. GG is a fun place to eat so I do recommend eating there sometime and a lot of what they serve is grown right there in the land.

[CinderAbby]

Originally Posted by phoebec

Sorry about your fireworks meltdown. We had one of those on our last trip but unfortunately the fireworks started right as we entered future world from the showcase, so the trip from future world to the bus was wild and crazy. The funny thing is now he loves fireworks and we were able to go to a 4th of July display for the first time this year. Maybe she will come around to them someday!!!

That's great that you could go to the 4th of July fireworks but not so great that you had the meltdown. We were very fortunate that it didn't turn into a meltdown but I was trying my hardest to prevent it. If Abby doesn't like the fireworks, I'll be fine with it but I also look at it as "incentive" to get up and out early. Early into the parks means we can leave early. While part of me still says we have to stay till closing, the other part of me is getting used to leaving before that happens.

Originally Posted by Canada Amy

love catching a glimpse of some of your pics, Darlene. funny to see the same girl doing the bird show who is in our pictures : ) love that pic of Lenny and Darlene. you are blessed.

Thanks Amy. If you think it's funny seeing the same girl in our pictures that you saw, you should check out whichever TR I have that we saw the same character two years in a row (and I don't mean the character but the person portraying the character)

Originally Posted by Chancho

Another great day! You all look so happy in your pics. I love the one of Abby & Aurora. It looks like Abby is pulling on her shorts just like Aurora and the dress....priceless! I can't wait to hear more of your adventures.

Abby was actually pulling on her shorts just like Aurora - good eye for catching that. I'm glad you're enjoying my TR and I plan on posting more in a little while.

Originally Posted by OneLittleSpark

We keep trying to go to GG but it just keeps not working out for us. Including next trip as I already have set what meals we are doing. We will make it there someday though! It sounds really good.

You got some great pics at Epcot today. I like sleeping in a couple days during out trip too.

It is good so if you can make it, I do recommend eating there. Thanks about the pictures. We got so many it was hard to choose which ones to include. I truthfully don't like the sleeping in days but I figured by that time Lenny and Abby would need one.

Originally Posted by alexsmommy0412

Sounds like you had a nice day a Epcot. We love the GG and try to go there on our Epcot day. Your hunt for pennies sounded like fun. Alex loves those machines so I'm sure we will be doing some of our own hunting. Just printed the list today actually. Thanks for the tip about EE. He's actually never been on a roller coaster and just watching EE I can only imagine what it's like. I want try him on what used to be the barnstormer and BTM before anything else. Can't wait to hear more!

We did have a good day at Epcot and we do have fun doing the pennies - to the point we even go to the resorts (as you saw in the last installment). I'm glad what I told you about EE is helpful. All I can really say is do try Barnstormer and BTM, especially BTM. If Alex doesn't like that one, I think EE will be out on your trip. The last thing you want to do is have him get scared by it and when it's dark and going backwards very fast, you obviously can't see where you're going but with the sensory deprivation too, it's hard to tell exactly what the track is doing. Both Lenny and Abby say it feels like you do upside down. You don't and I don't feel that but it certainly does feel like you're going up a really good size hill.

Originally Posted by manticorjenn

Thanks for letting me know that Donald is only outside for pictures at TH. I haven't been there before and from the Disney website I would have expected him to be there. Sounds like you had another great day at Epcot and a very successful penny hunt. Can't wait to read more.

Technically Donald is at the breakfast but he just greets guests. Just like Cinderella at CRT or Belle at Akershus. They're there and you see and take pictures with them but taking a lot of time with them is not encouraged unless absolutely no one else is waiting in line (and we all know that doesn't happen often). Even then, the CM's want to get you seated and started on your meal.

[CinderAbby]

Friday morning we were all up about 6:15. We got ready for the day and went to the Beach Club for our CMC breakfast. We were there about 8 but even though our ADR was at 8:35, we were seated about 8:10. We enjoyed our breakfast there and I know we had eggs and bacon but don’t remember anything else that we had. There was quite a bit to choose from I do know that. We saw Donald and Goofy twice and Minnie only once.

Our server was fine too. I don’t remember his name and while he didn’t talk much with us, our table was clean and our drinks refilled. We left CMC at 9 - an hour earlier than I thought we would have but instead of going to the Studios like I expected we would, we headed to TL.

If I had planned on the Studios, why did we go to TL you ask? I’ll give you one guess. If you said "there must have been pennies there" you would be correct. If you guessed anything else, please go back and re-read some of my previous TR’s - especially the one about Our Penny Pressing Plans . I had bought the WP&M option this year for our mini golf and our day at BB so I had plenty of options left on my ticket to get into the water park. Nobody questioned the fact that I walked in there with absolutely nothing but my park ticket. I went right to the gift shop, found the machine, got our pennies, then turned around and left the park. I do have to say the water did look inviting during my few minutes there but TL wasn’t in the plans this year so I ignored it the best I could.

I made it back to the car and off to the Studios we went. After getting through the turnstiles (still earlier than I expected us to be there) we stopped for our maps (which we don’t even need or look at) and the times guides. We decided to try for B&B because the live shows with specific times are the hardest thing at times to coordinate. On our way to Sunset Blvd, we hit Mickey’s of Hollywood for a couple of pennies and then made it to the theater with plenty of time to spare. And when I mean plenty of time, I mean like an hour and a half. Looking at the times guide, we saw a 10:30 am show listed. That show was only on Mondays though so the first show for our day was 11:45. We weren’t waiting for that show so we turned around and followed Abby. She had a plan that she didn’t let us in on until then. Somehow, some way she had learned about the Wreck It Ralph M&G at the Studios and that’s what she wanted. We made it into Magic of Disney animation building and his M&G didn’t start until 10:30 so we got in line (which wasn’t that bad yet). Within 15 minutes or so after they came out, it was our turn with Ralph and Vanellope and boy was Ralph big. His hands alone were huge so they don’t do autographs here. They have CM’s that will hand out a signature card that has both their autographs on it.

　
Abby was so happy to have seen them and after saying bye to them, Abby and I got in line for Sorcerer Mickey. Lenny didn’t want in line so he went off to have a cigarette while we were in line. Like with Ralph and Vanellope, it didn’t take long at all for our turn to come around. I stood back and Let Abby do the meet and Mickey hugged Abby so long I said to the CM he must have been whispering sweet nothings in her ear. We got a few photos from there and as we walked away, Mickey watched us and waved to Abby. It was really sweet IMO.

We met back up with Lenny and our timing was good as the doors for Disney Junior were open. I showed my GAC here but like at Enchanted Tales, I was told to use the regular queue. They had it wrapped around in such a way that it looked like there were a ton of people in front of us and I was very concerned that we wouldn’t get into the show. We did get in thankfully - but it was pretty full in there by that time. Even though I haven’t seen any of the new shows in it (Sophia, Doc McStuffins or Jake) the show was cute. Abby enjoyed it so that alone made it worth it.

[CinderAbby]

From there we went to get some pennies in the shop across the way and instead of getting in line for the VOLM show (which would be starting in half an hour or so at 12:15), Abby wanted to go get the pennies at the Prop Shop. As we walked by TSM, I stopped long enough to snap this picture of the FP distribution sign.

Yes, you’re reading that correctly. At approximately 11:45 in the morning, the return times were between 8 and 9 that night . We got to the Prop shop and found all of the pennies that we could (there were only 4 machines instead of the 5 we were looking for ) and then Abby decided we had to go back for VOLM. When we got there, instead of having a sign for the 12:15 show like when we went by the first time, the CM had a sign that said 12:45. I asked her what happened to 12:15 and she said that show was already full and that when you see a time, you have to get in line then for it. Abby wasn’t happy and Disney CM’s (or maybe just certain CM’s) must be able to recognize the start of meltdowns because she asked right away if we had gotten a GAC. I responded with yes and she said "you can use the FP line with the GAC and that will get you into the 12:15 show." I said "really? we’ve been denied that entrance at other shows" and she said that we shouldn’t have been. I guess that means the CM’s that denied us using it assumed the GAC was for Lenny and not for Abby. I thanked the CM, went to the FP line and within a few minutes we were inside waiting for the show to start. Although they’ve compressed a 90 minute movie into a 20 minute show, we still enjoy watching it. We were in the very back again this time and didn’t get any of the misting affect (which would have been welcome) but it didn’t take away from our enjoyment of the show.

As with other trips, we spent part of this trip going back and fourth in that back section of the park - we went from Disney Junior to the Prop Shop back to VOLM then back to the Back Lot Tour.

Unlike other trips though, there was next to no line for the tour. We got right up the ramps and the monitors weren’t even on because we could continue right to the water portion of it. What can I say about the Back Lot Tour? Other than saying I don’t like it anymore and that I do it for Abby, I have no other comments about it. After we got off the tram, we walked quickly through the Film Institute Building. I didn’t think the displays were all that interesting this time so nothing encouraged us to linger and get a closer look. By that time, someone was getting hungry (it could have been me for a change) and for the simple reason of there was absolutely no lines, we went to the Studio Catering Company. Abby got the kids nuggets, I got the buffalo chicken sandwich and Lenny got the turkey club. Abby ate hers up, mine was okay (it would have been better without the buffalo but luckily it wasn’t that hot to begin with) and Lenny complained a little bit about his sandwich saying it wasn’t a club without lettuce and tomatoes. I told him AFAIK the word "bacon" is what turns a sandwich into a club, not the lettuce and tomato. Plus I told him he had red and green (arugula and red peppers) on his sandwich so it was close enough. He ate it all so it couldn’t have been too bad.

After lunch, Abby was getting a little anxious that we wouldn’t be able to make it back to B&B for the 3 pm show I promised her we would go to. Even though she looked at my watch to see it was only 2:15, I’m not sure what she was thinking. I told her it wouldn’t take us 45 minutes to walk from where we were to the theater and she calmed down a little. She wasn’t completely fine until we got there and the ropes were still up preventing people from actually going up to the theater.

We were finally shown to our seats which were down in front of the stage. I know they’re close here but we enjoy this view of the stage actually. I was able to get a bunch of good photos this time.

[CinderAbby]

A couple of miscellaneaou photos - Abby by a fountain and a question I seem to ask a lot on vacation

　
　
　
Abby wanted the GMR after B&B so we went and did our tour through the movies. We sat in the back car so we got the gangster scene again. One of these times I’m going to request the other one just so we can see something slightly different.

From the GMR, Abby decided we needed to try Star Tours and she told me it was okay for me to sit out and people watch. On our way there though, it started to pour and I didn’t know what to do with Lenny’s scooter as it would have gotten completely drenched (that’s how hard it was raining). The last time we were on this, Lenny had to leave his scooter outside and transfer to a wheelchair. This time however, they let him go inside with his scooter through the line which made me happy. Once at the top, the CM asked if there were only 3 of us, handed us 3 pairs of glasses then told us where to stand while he took Lenny’s scooter. I got in line with Lenny and Abby and I was going to walk right through when the doors opened but I figured what the heck, let me try it again. Try it again I did with very similar results as the last time . I wasn’t quite as nauseous as the last time but it did happen so no more Star Tours for me, ever again. I know we had the Rebel Spy storyline but that’s all I remember from it. I was busy looking everywhere but the screen once it started moving. We got off the ride and I told Lenny "get me off that ride, I’m not doing it again." We walked away with me still muttering about the ride to find the last penny machine we needed from the Studios in the Star Tours Gift shop. It was Jedi Mickey, Leia Minnie and Darth Vader Goofy. Those checked off our list, we left the attraction to a slight drizzle instead of the heavy rain of earlier.

Abby wanted to finally ride TSM but when we got there, the FP line was out the door and back towards the Jack Sparrow attraction. I convinced Abby we should do One Man’s Dream first and then come back, hopefully to a smaller line.

We wandered around there until it was show time and I finally stayed awake during the movie . However, looking back, I don’t remember anything that I saw during it . Abby was more than happy when the movie was over because that meant we were going to do TSM. There was no FP line this time when we went so we were able to walk right into the building. We were in the wheelchair line for a while but that wasn’t unexpected. Lenny and I rode together for this and Abby wanted to ride by herself. It didn’t matter whether she rode by herself or not, she got the highest score in our car. For me, it’s bittersweet Abby riding by herself. It’s good that she’s growing up but it does make me miss when she was younger and she rode with me or her dad on all the rides.

It was still early by my standards - only about 6:30 - but we decided to leave for the day and go get some dinner. We went to our own food court this time. Lenny and Abby both felt like burgers, so that’s what I got them and I got myself a cheese steak sub. I also got us three swirled cheesecakes because I saw them on someone else’s tray and they looked good. I went to the register, paid, then sat down and started looking at my receipt. I’m not sure how but the CM didn’t charge me for my sandwich so when he had no line, I went back up to him. He saw me with the receipt and asked "what did I do wrong?" Another CM was there too (I think the one who rang me might have been in training) and I simply explained I was charged for the burgers and desserts and not my cheese steak and I wanted to pay for it. Both CM’s just looked at me like I had two heads . I got the sandwich, I was going to eat the sandwich so there was no reason for me not to pay for it. They rang me in still obviously surprised that someone would be so honest (which is really sad - their surprise, not that I’m honest) and I sat down to eat my dinner. Lenny and Abby’s burgers disappeared as did their desserts but I took mine back to the room for later. With dinner over, we all decided to go swimming since it was early. I called mom first and joined them a little while later.

When we all got back to the room, Lenny asked me where his glasses were and I told him I had no idea, I hadn't seen them. We looked all over Abby’s room for them and then we mentally retraced our steps since getting back to the resort. I didn’t remember seeing Lenny with them at dinner so I asked if he put them on the tray a CM took from us and threw away. At first Lenny thought he might have done that but then he clearly remembered having them on his face when he rode his scooter down to the pool. I was in the other room on the phone with mom so I didn’t know if he had or not but he said he remembered seeing a frog jump out of the way and he would never have seen it without the glasses. He also said he had put them on the towels, which were on the scooter, when they got to the pool. At the time when I got down to the pool, his glasses were not on the towels as I would have seen them and put them someplace safer. I totally understood Lenny’s frustration (BTDT Twice on vacation). Being the type of person I am though, I did say "I do understand the frustration you’re feeling Lenny as I’ve felt it too. Unlike you though, I’m not ranting, raving and yelling at you about it as that doesn’t help the situation." It really bothered Lenny about his glasses (again, I can relate) but he stayed in the room for a little bit to calm down and then he went out looking for his glasses. He was really sure they had to be at the pool somewhere so he went to look for them. He didn’t find them so he went to the front desk to fill out a lost items form. He came back to the room and sat down for a while and he was still convinced they had to be at the pool somewhere. Using my glasses (which help him in a pinch) and using the camcorder light as a flashlight, Lenny went back to the pool a second time. His persistence finally paid off as he found them on the ground right next to the pool but underneath the metal railings by the ladder in the side of the pool.

He was relieved he had found his glasses as I was, but I was just happy that he found them when he did. It had started to thunder and lightning out and it sounded like the storm was right over the resort. The thunder was really, really loud and I could see the lightning through the tine crack in the curtains (even with all the lights on in the room). The storm either ended or moved away and we were finally able to fall asleep for the night. We needed our sleep as the next day was our tour and we had to be in the park early to check in for it.

[CinderAbby]

Photopass photos from Friday