Disney {Day 2 Epcot and Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party}

*Sorry, no pictures.  When I upload them they have lines through them and weird fading.  All of our photos are on my facebook page.

Day 2 started out about 7:30 for me. I was too excited to sleep. I got up, got dressed and was ready when the boys woke up. We ate in the room and were off to Epcot.


When we walked in right after opening we headed straight to the Soarin’ fast pass. It was already five hours later. Epcot was by far the worst crowds we encountered the entire week. We didn’t really know what to do so we went to Nemo. Damian enjoyed it, but nothing like he enjoyed the rides at Magic Kingdom. If we want to see fish we can go to the Georgia Aquarium.

We had reservations for lunch at Le Cellier which is the hot restaurant at Disney for the moment. They start you off with pretzel bread and I have never seen Damian demolish anything like he did that. He ate three giant pieces in about five minutes. I’ve heard great things about this place and had really high expectations. I had the crab and spinach dip as my appetizer and it was good, but nothing spectacular. Damian had the cheese soup that is supposedly fabulous as his appetizer, but we all thought it was nasty. I don’t even remember what Michael had so that shows it wasn’t that good! Michael and I both had the New York Strip. It was good, but nothing out of the ordinary at a good restaurant. I don’t think it was nearly as good as the nice restaurants we have been to in Atlanta. Don’t get me wrong, it was good, but like the Crystal Palace waaaay overpriced. The one good thing was that it was only one table service credit so we got a good bang for our buck.

After Le Cellier we rode Spaceship Earth and headed back to the hotel. We were not wild about Epcot. It seemed a little too stuffy for us. It was probably because it was really crowded, but it just wasn’t for us.

We got back to the hotel and Michael took a nap so I took Damian to the pool. The pool at the hotel was really nice. Damian was disappointed in the slide. We have a really great slide at our pool at home and this was just some little slide. He did have a blast splashing around. I was amazed at how well he was swimming. He was going free style from one end of the pool to the other and it was a big pool. I was cold so we then went to the hot tub. You never have to ask D twice to go to a hot tub. He loves them. We interrupted a teenage couple trying to have alone time and were soon joined by a mom and her little boy. Damian and the other little guy became friends and were having contests to see who could make the biggest splash when jumping in.

After drying off we got dressed and headed to Jiko. One of my best friends, Clare, is South African. Since we were at the Animal Kingdom Lodge I thought it would be fun to go to the African restaurant and try the food. All of the reviews from this place are fantastic. The atmosphere is breathtaking. I had the wild boar tenderloin as my appetizer and it was to die for. Michael had the bobotie and I didn’t care for it. It tasted like ground beef and mustard. For dinner we both had the fillet and risotto. I loved it. Michael though the entire menu looked odd and would have said he didn’t like it even if he had loved it. He does have a sensitive stomach and the different spices did upset it. I thought it was delicious. I had never had risotto and thought it was really good. Again, I wouldn’t want to pay out of pocket for this place, but it was definitely worth it on the dining plan.

We returned to the room and the transformation began. Damian left us for the week and Buzz Lightyear joined us. Damian looked so cute it should have been illegal. When walking to the bus stop alone he had at least fifteen people stop him and tell him how adorable he looked.

I think Mickey’s Not so Scary Night was one of the most fun nights of my life. We will go every single year from now on. It was 100 times worth every single penny. When we got there we immediately started looking for the Toy Story characters. No one would give us a straight answer about Woody and Jesse so we went to meet Buzz. Buzz only spent a few seconds with the kids in front of us and then politely pushed them to the side. He did the exact opposite with Damian. He gave him the biggest hug and then took him to his control panel to “teach” him how to use it. He taught Damian how to pose and hugged him again and again. Damian got about eight to ten minutes with Buzz. Damian was the happiest boy in the world to be with his favorite superhero. The kid behind us got the same treatment as the rest, picture and then be on your way.

We rode a bunch of rides on our hunt to find Woody and Jesse. Just when we were about to give up we walked by the Diamond Horseshoe and saw Jesse. Woody, Jesse and Bullyseye were hosting a dance party that no one knew about. Damian danced like crazy with them and got all of the alone time he wanted. The DJ kept announcing that the entire gang was there with Buzz in the building. Jesse was soooo nice. She grabbed Damian and kissed him and I though he was going to pass out. He danced, and danced, and danced. It really could not have worked out any better. Damian got TONS of time with them and we didn’t have to wait in line.

Tomorrowland was next on our to-do-list. We rode Buzz again, and again and again. Like the night before there was no line. When we got out after the 20th time Michael ran to the bathroom and Damian and I stumbled upon a dance party with Chip and Dale and some kid band. Damian went out there and was shaking his booty. They had a freestyle dance and he got on the ground and started breakdancing. I thought I was going to wet my pants it was so funny. He danced a lot with Chip and Dale and once again was on cloud nine.

We left the dance party and rode every ride in the park once again. We couldn’t believe our luck with absolutely no lines and the fantastic weather. With a high chance of rain there wasn’t a cloud in the night’s sky. We then watched the Boo to You Parade as we walked from one end of the park to another. (We aren’t big parade people, we enjoyed watching them as we were walking) We ended our night at midnight when the park closed. It truly was a magical night. One I will never forget. We had an exact repeat of the night before (fell asleep on bus, slept through shower) We were all tired, but knew we were just getting started. Day 3 (Hollywood Studios and the real princess, Madelyn, joins the party) coming soon!