Easing In - Downtown Disney and Epcot

Our check-in luck did not last. We left the Pop Century fairly early in the morning for the Polynesian, but our room at the Poly was not yet ready. We were able to get our park tickets and dining plan, though, so we headed upstairs to the second floor for breakfast at the Kona Cafe. Here Adam is helping Heath with the word search puzzle on his menu. A Tonga Toast, chocolate milk, and thou.
Carrie is ready to start the day.
I'd heard so much about the Tonga Toast I had to order it. It's basically two slices of really thick sourdough bread with banana in the middle fried up like French toast and covered in cinnamon sugar. It is served with strawberry sauce. Though it was good, it was far too sweet for me. However, the kids loved their "Mickey" pancakes.

We took the monorail over to Epcot, though we didn't have much time before we had to be at Downtown Disney to meet Beth and Matt. The girls were pretty cranky on the monorail because they were tired from swimming the day before. So tired, in fact, that a Cast Member on a day out to the park with her husband got us a free double stroller for the day - such a nice gesture! We waited by the fountain when she got the stroller ticket for us.

He's got a grimace going on, but there's a smile in his eyes if you look closely.

We made it onto Spaceship Earth and then headed out of the park. Since we had to take a bus to another hotel and transfer from there to another bus to Downtown Disney, we wanted to make sure we left enough time. We left way too much time, because we got there about an hour early. That worked out just fine, though, because the Lego store has a play area complete with small playground.

Here Adam is helping Quin build a race car.

Carrie spent more time on the playground than with the Legos.

Quin's car needed to get the tires aligned - it drifted off to her left.

Carrie's petite car made it down the track.

Heath built the tallest car there. I think he enjoyed watching the results when it crashed! The first time it was really top-heavy, but he rebuilt it so that it did make it down the track. It exploded most satisfactorily at the bottom.

Waiting to meet Beth and Matt outside of T-Rex.

The kids enjoyed taking a number of pictures this time. I think Carrie took this shot.

Lunch with Beth and Matt at T-Rex. That's the Ice Room behind us. It would turn red right before each "meteor shower."

Matt and Adam help the kids with menu games while Beth and I chat.

My fish tacos came complete with fish tails.

One of the restaurant dinos.

The ceiling near the bar.

The kids on their own archaeological dig after lunch.

After lunch, we went back to the Poly to move into our room. Here are some of the foliage and drums at the entrance.

This pool of water is also at the entrance to the hotel. Tradition says to toss a coin into the pool when you are leaving if you hope to return. You know I did!

The lobby
Mickey was waiting for us on one of the beds when we got to our room.

Our room - my photos do not do it justice.

The day bed was very popular with the kids. Once we pulled it down from a couch the first day, it stayed down. They rotated each night sleeping on it.

Even the bathroom was spacious. The view from our patio. The volcano in the background is the slide into the pool. The pool faces the castle at the Magic Kingdom and has a zero-entry side from the beach. We watched the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the pool Tuesday and Wednesday night while the kids played in the sand and the water.

The kids on the patio. We went swimming after we checked in, then headed back to Epcot for the evening.

Epcot was open until midnight for resort guests, so we watched the fireworks and then went on a number of rides. Quin is 40 inches now, so she could go on everything except for Mission Space. Carrie wanted us to take a picture of them in front of this display window on our way out of the park.

Quin's Birthday - Mickey, Mickey, and More Mickey

Quin woke up on her birthday to find that Tinkerbell had flown into our room with presents for her from Grandma and Grandpa and all of her favorite Disney characters. The kids figured out right away that the present had to be from the characters because of the tags and small figures on the boxes. She worked slowly and diligently to remove all of the ribbons and open the packages. As she opened them, she handed out the items to Heath and Carrie to share. It was really sweet.
Carrie and Heath with the first items handed over to them - Minnie and Daisy.
Carrie LOVES Pluto. Quin let her carry him around all day, but she did ask for him back in the end.

Grandma and Grandpa sent clothes and a beloved raincoat and umbrella.

Adam lined up the critters before we left for Quin's character lunch.

This tiki was outside the door of our room. Tradition says to rub its nose for luck. I don't think it worked for everything, but we did have short lines for the rides!

Quin told Goofy she loved him, and he signed it back to her.

Goofy signed all of the autograph books on Heath's head.

The Goof Troop

Carrie and Quin eat the cupcakes that weren't supposed to be out on the dessert bar. (They were only supposed to be for birthday treats, but were mistakenly put out there. This matters only because it is Quin's birthday - and she will be getting a treat!)

They both have their birthday pins on here. We got the pins the first day, but we thought the kids were only supposed to wear them on the actual day of their birthday. We were wrong. They were supposed to wear them all week. That didn't last, though, because Carrie didn't like it when people wished her Happy Birthday when it wasn't the real day - and sometimes she didn't even like it then!

Our waitress brings out the birthday treat cupcakes. Oh well, you only live once, right? So what if the kids have two cupcakes at one meal! Quin is showing her that she is 3 now.

I'm glad Heath isn't the type to crave a lot of sweets, or he might have been upset that the girls kept getting extra dessert treats that he didn't get all week, but it never came up once.

Quin makes her wish.

Then Carrie makes hers. We sang the birthday song twice - the candles really burned down low!

Pluto signs autographs on his nose. And the kids cannot seem to keep their hands off of Pluto - they are constantly touching him.

Quin is not quite as smitten with Donald this year as she was last year. I miss that!

Wait - maybe she is!

Look at the love on Quin's face!

Quin was not only this affectionate with the characters - she also hugged on grandmas on the monorail and Cast Members throughout the entire trip. I think she thought that everyone who wished her a Happy Birthday when they saw her button was someone she should know!

After lunch we headed over to the Magic Kingdom, which is already decorated for Halloween. This picture makes me laugh, because the kids are so clearly thinking that they don't care if there are cute decorations behind them, the sun is in their eyes and they want me to get it over with, darn it!

Carrie joins in with the dancers on Main Street.

Quin didn't dance, but she did go up for a high five before running back to us.

Hula hooping on Main Street. All that Wii practice came in handy. I didn't get any pictures of the kids jumping rope, but Carrie was really good at that too.

The girls beside the castle. The park was not crowded because it was closing early that day, so it looks like they have the place to themselves!

After we bought Quin's princess dress for her birthday in the shop under the castle, one of the Cast Members noticed Carrie's birthday button and let her ring the bell to make Tinkerbell appear.

Evidently not one of my children is destined to become the rightful King of England.

Every time we asked Quin which ride she wanted to go on, she'd tell us the merry-go-round. So Cinderella's Carousel was the first ride of the day on her birthday.

I usually can't juggle the backpack, the kids, and the camera to take too many ride pictures. But you have to take the obligatory elephant's rear. I think there's a law.

Carrie rode with me on Dumbo.

Because the lines were short, we were able to go on most of the rides in Fantasy Land before we had to leave for Quin's birthday dinner. We went to Mickey's Backyard BBQ at Fort Wilderness. Though I would not necessarily recommend this for couples, it was one of the best experiences for the kids ever! After you eat picnic style, they get to dance with Mickey and Minnie!

We were in line for the event when we heard somebody call Heath's name. One of the girls from his kindergarten class, Regan, was a few places behind us in line! So I guess we weren't the only ones playing hooky this week. But what are the odds of that - not only of one of the kids from his class being there the same week, but also that we would actually bump into her!

Here Heath is enjoying yet another macaroni and cheese meal. If it was on the buffet, he would find it.

Carrie and her ketchup sandwich. (Ugh!)

We never did get all the watermelon stains out of Quin's Minnie shirt. But she had such a good time, that really doesn't matter.

Quin clapping along with Mickey. When they announced her birthday, she headed straight up to the stage!

Though there were a ton of kids on the dance floor, we could always find the girls. All you had to do was find Mickey or Minnie and look down. There they were!

Look how happy she is!

Carrie did not stop moving the entire night.

Dancing? They have dancing here? Hmm.

Sheer joy on Carrie's face.

Carrie also spent some time at the front of the stage dancing with the lead singer.

Heath at the front of the dance floor when the MCs are trying to clear it for the trick roper.

Heath dancing with his friend Regan. I don't know where he got this move with the hopping on one leg. I think he thinks he's break dancing.

They brought Quin this lovely cake, so we tried to get her off the dance floor.

This was the result.

So we let her go back and dance and they put the cake in a box for us. After the event was over, we took the ferry back to our hotel. We swam to cool off and watched the fireworks from the pool. Then we had cake in the room. We didn't have matches, so Quin had to pretend that the candles were lit.

No one had any trouble falling asleep that night!