Wednesday Morning at Epcot

I goofed this morning. You know how when you are on vacation you kind of lose track of what day it is? Well, Tuesday night before going to bed, I checked the times guide to make sure I had Epcot's opening time right. Only instead of thinking it was Tuesday night, I thought it was Monday night, so I checked the opening time for Tuesday morning. Make sense? So, Tuesday had extra magic hours at Epcot, which meant the park opened at 8 am. I had us all up and ready to go at the bus stop by 7:30. It took a really long time to get a bus, and there was no one else waiting to go to Epcot, which I found surprising, but didn't really give it much thought. We finally got a bus, rode to Epcot, and were walking toward the gates when it hit me. Today was Wednesday, NOT Tuesday. Epcot wouldn't open for another hour!

Here we are bright and early on the bus to Epcot. Wilderness Lodge shared buses with Fort Wilderness, so we were able to see that resort too. Probably not a place I'll ever choose to stay. It seemed really spread out and smelled like horses.

After I realized what I had done and Collin got finished laughing at me, we decided to make the best of it and head over to the Polynesian to get some good coffee. Disney World has notoriously BAD coffee. It doesn't even taste like coffee. And I am the kind of person who MUST. HAVE. HER. COFFEE. The Kona stand at the Poly is the only coffee at Disney that's any good. Or so I thought.

We boarded the monorail and because there was no one else there :) we were able to ride up front. Which is always a treat.

After getting off the monorail at the TTC, we were just going to walk to the Poly and get coffee. On the way, though, we spotted another coffee stand that looked different from most. And there was a lady standing there who had just finished her cup. I asked her if it was any good, and very excitedly replied "YES!!! It's so, so good! Not like that other stuff. It's REAL!" She seemed like a woman who knew her coffee, so we decided to try some. She was right! So if you are at Disney and find yourself in need of a good cup of coffee, there is a stand outside of the monorails at the TTC. Saved us a hike to the Poly. Here's Collin with his cup.
By this time it was time to head back to Epcot, so we re-boarded the monorail. Mak ALWAYS stands here on the monorail. Those poles turn as the doors close, and it's one of his favorite things about Disney. Really. It's the little things, I guess.
I love this pic of CB spotting the "Big Ball"

We made it into Epcot just after rope drop. And it was FINALLY time. To ride THE ride. Test Track. Those of you who followed my trip report from last December (on Collin's blog) may remember the total heartbreak that occurred when Mak realized he wasn't tall enough to ride. it was BAD. Jessica and Brandon can vouch for me. We have been eating veggies like crazy since Dec, with high hopes that Mak could ride this much anticipated ride. It was a really big deal. Li-Li was at home, anxiously awaiting the phone call stating weather or not he made it. Every one of our friends knew that THIS is the one moment that could make or break this trip.
HE MADE IT!!!!! I can't even describe the joy on that sweet baby's face! All of the cast members and total strangers were cheering for him. It was a perfect Disney moment!
Most kids hit the 40 inch mark a little earlier than Mak did. We're real high-towers in this family, we are. :)
High Fives for Daddy
Notice the lady in the background with the poor, too short little girl in her lap. I felt that little girl's pain. That was us last Dec.

A big thumbs up (sort of),
And off they went!
Miss CB and I headed to the Kidcot Funstop to color. She loves this place!
I had the camera ready and was so excited to see his face when he got off of the ride. This is what I was rewarded with...
He HATED it. Cried all the way through it. Poor kid! What a let-down!

He joined his sister in coloring while I took my turn riding.

We called Li-Li and told her how it went, then headed out to ride more rides. On the way, we noticed that there was no wait at the Character Connection, so we went in. We've never done this before, because usually the line is too long, but this time we really enjoyed it!

We started with our favorite mouse.

Mickey tried to convince Mak to join us in a picture. Not gonna happen.

*Oh, and here's a memory that I want to record from Mak's first trip to Disney 2 years ago (I didn't blog then and have no journal from that trip. SAD.) Mak would run up to Mickey and yell "Hi, Mickey! I'm Mackie!" It was the cutest thing ever!*

That Mickey wouldn't give up trying to get Mak in a picture!

Pluto's turn

And Miss CB's favorite...Minnie Mouse! Here she's telling us "That's Minnie!" She was Soooo Happy!

I LOVE this one!

Chip and Dale
And Goofy
We then headed to Nemo and hung out at The Living Seas for awhile. Next was Figment, another one of Mak's all-time favorites. I love this picture of them playing in the Imagination Station outside of the ride.
Silly Makgilly
We then leisurely wandered through The World Showcase. As leisurely as you can with a 4 and 2 year old, anyway. We checked out the trains in Germany. Always a favorite stop.

And we got some lunch.

A little more browsing in Great Britain
And the final Kidcot stop of the day, making masks. Guess who sponsors this one? SHARPIE. It's an activity for small kids and they put a sharpie permanent marker in their hands. Really, Disney? Why would you do this??? Thankfully no clothes were ruined in the making of these masks.

I really wanted to stay out late this night, so we headed back to the room with high hopes for a nap. Any guesses on how that went?