Thursday, April 26, 2012

Disney World, Day 3

In the continuing saga of our Disney World Trip, on day 3 we went to Epcot.  We started the day out in front of the big silver ball.  I know what you're thinking, but the creature from Super 8 never turned it into a spaceship...at least while we were there.  But it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on the news...

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Then, we took a break in front of some flowers...

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Then we walked by a butterfly sanctuary with flowers in the shape of a butterfly...

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Then we walked by some water...

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This is Tow-Mater (disguised as greenery, but it was the real thing, we just knew it!):

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I don't know if you're picking up on a theme, but Epcot wasn't built to be a thrill-a-minute park; it's more for walking and looking and "ooh-ing and aah-ing" over the scenery.  The back half of the park was set up to be like a walk around the world, with different sections set up to feel like different easily-recognizable countries.  That's not to say there weren't exciting things to do though!

This is Cayden on a top-secret Kim Possible mission...the communicator in his hand gave him clues:

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And he set off down the streets of Great Britain in search of bad guys:

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Avery played it cool on the shuttle boat across the park:

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We rode one ride called Soarin' that takes you up and has you watch an OmniMax screen that makes it look like you're flying over various terrain:

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These guys are clearly expert world travelers, captured by the camera in France I believe...

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We got to see a Nemo show, and these two found their way around (and into!) the fish:

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After supper Avery bummed a ride out of the park:

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And we finished the day back where we began:

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Disney World, Days 1-2

Over Spring Break our family had the privilege of going to Florida and visiting the land of all things Mickey Mouse!  Papaw & Nana (Damon’s parents) took our family and Dustin & D’Lynn.  We provided photography for a wedding the day before we left (congratulations Drew & Tiffany!), and have been working on getting those pictures done the last few weeks, so that’s why this blog is just now making it into the public eye, sorry!

So, without any further delay, is the story of our trip.  I'm going to do the first couple of days in this first entry, because there are a lot of pictures, and I don't want to break the internet by putting everything in one blog entry.  You just never know...

We were glad we got pictures as the week went by, because it went by fast!

DAY 1:
On the plane…one of us already has our princess crown on:
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Riding the bus from the airport to Disney World:

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Crafting at the Lego Store at Downtown Disney:

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DAY 2:
Magic Kingdom

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In front of Pooh’s tree:
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They said all the cool kids were wearing them, how could we argue?
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Waiting in line:
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Riding Aladdin’s Magic Carpet…Avery was riding my shoulder to dreamland at the time, I was carrying about three bags, and frankly I’m impressed that this picture turned out as well as it did.  Papaw, on the other hand, was impressed with something other than my camera…
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Headed to the Briar Patch on the log ride!
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The highlight of Avery’s week was her appointment at the “Bibbity-Bobbity-Boutique.”  She put on her Cinderella dress (you know, the one Cinderella wears when the prince brings her to the palace at the end, not the one she wears to scrub floors and dance with the singing mice at her house) and her “Fairy Godmother” transformed her into a princess…

Even princesses need face shields to protect them from royal hair spray in the eyes:
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Princess-y lip gloss:
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And a little bit of magic dust (it looked like regular old glitter to me, but what do I know?) to finish the transformation:
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They don't show the girls what they look like along the way, it's only at the reveal at the end that they get to see what all has been done:
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From there, it was on to the royal dining room to feast and meet the Princesses.
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Papaw and Nana outside the castle:
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As the sun went down, we finished the night on a few rides and watching the fireworks show, beginning with the infamous Teacups!
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Incidentally, Damon and Nana rode in the "you don't spin me and I won't spin you, because either one of us could lose our lunch" teacup, which is how we were able to get these pictures.
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On the Merry-Go-Round.  I think Dustin was scared of this one, that's why you don't see him...or something like that...
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Waiting for and finally watching the fireworks show:
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(Looking back, I think the kids' two most common phrases were, "where are we going next?" and "can I ride on your shoulders?")
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More to come!