Detailed plans, day 3: March 6
This is going to be a long day, in the very best of ways!
Katie and I will be up and out early to join Minnie and her friends for breakfast at Cape May. It is the only character meal this trip, and the menu looks better than most so I figured it is worth a try. It was that or Akershus and Katie said she'd rather Minnie & Donald than Princesses.
After breakfast, we'll walk over to the back gates of Epcot. I'm hoping we'll be there at least a few minutes ahead of opening, since we've got a long walk to our first destination for the day - the new Frozen ride in Norway. We haven't ridden yet, but only Katie is interested so instead of tying up a top-tier FastPass on it we're just going to do it early, before the big kids join us for the afternoon.
From there, I suspect it'll be over to Soarin', just so Katie can say she saw the new film before the big kids, and to Figment. But that could change. Katie has the lead for the morning. If she decides she'd rather play on one of the Flower & Garden playgrounds than go on rides, that's what we'll do.
At 11:30 or thereabouts, we'll meet up with the big kids at Spaceship Earth for our first Fastpass of the day. It isn't really needed, I know, but the line can sometimes spike in the morning as people hop in line for the first ride they see when they get to the park, so it isn't a bad choice for a fill-in-the-gap third FP.
We're also going to pop in to visit with Joy & Sadness. My girls' outfits are Joy and Disgust dresses for this day - their Halloween costumes last year - so of course that is the one character meet & greet that is on their list. I think they'd also like to meet Baymax if we have time.
From there, we blast off into outer space on a ride I very much hope I don't regret... Mission Space: Orange. I usually ride the Green experience because I have some issues with spinning and motion sickness, but Katie wants to try Orange only if I come with her, so I'm going to give it a shot.
And then to our third and final pre-selected Fastpass - Test Track. All three of my kids list this among their favorite Disney attractions, so it is an absolute must do.
After that, there is no plan... just wandering the World Showcase, snacking at Festival booths, and enjoying the day. We'll definitely hop a ride with the Three Caballeros and I'll probably grab a passion fruit margarita from La Cava while we're there. Or maybe blood orange. Or avocado. There WILL be margaritas, the only question is which flavor.
I suspect Sebastian and Dillon will wander off on their own after that, though they might stay with us because my girls make better shopping companions for D than S does.
We'll undoubtedly spend a ton of time in the Japan pavilion because it is everyone's favorite. Japanese was Shanna's high school language and she's doing an eight-week exchange program there this summer so I know she'll spend some time just chatting with cast members to practice her conversational skills. The CMs there are always so friendly and patient with her limited language skills, even when she was self-taught and only knew a few basic greetings and phrases.
For dinner, we go our separate ways - S and D to an Illuminations-timed ADR at Rose & Crown, and the girls and I to Spice Road Table. SRT is one of my favorites but the kids haven't been there yet; I've been twice, on solo trips. Rose & Crown is one that the whole family enjoys but which only rates as a favorite for Sebastian, making it the ideal date-night option for them.
It is an evening EMH night, so after the fireworks we'll regroup and hopefully have a 4th Fastpass to use for Soarin'. If not, we'll ride standby. And I'm going to drag the kids on one of my personal favorites, Living With the Land, while we're there. It is a family tradition, after all!
The girls actually don't mind it - they're both involved in 4H garden projects and Shanna has started a school garden to benefit our parish food bank, so the gardening element appeals to them, and we've done the Behind the Seeds tour together more than once. Sebastian will gripe, but Dillon will want to see it so we'll just veto his too-cool-teenage-boy nonsense right off the bat.
From there, we'll head over to The Seas. I'm sure we'll skip the Nemo ride - none of us really love it, and D doesn't seem all that interested in it either. But Turtle Talk and visiting the manatees in their aquarium are both must-dos.
After that, if we have time left, we'll probably run over for one last ride on Test Track before we call it a night.