Another awesome Disney Vacation!!! Trip Report

[MdCaterer]

Thanks, I will try to hurry up and finish! Sorry I posted this in the wrong spot, I did not realize there was a trip report section here on the boards

Day 5, we got up early for early opening at Epcot. We were able to get Fastpasses for Soaring and ride it once before 9 am when we were scheduled to meet Bill. We met him at the Big ball and we headed over to Test Track for a ride. The line was only about 20 minutes which gave us some time to start catching up on what had been happening in our lives. Bill is very excited to find out he is going to be a grandfather We are very happy for him and his daughter. Anyhow we rode Test Track then headed over to Soarin, Living with the Land, Sum of all Thrills then we hopped a boat and headed to the Boardwalk for lunch at ESPN. We had a great lunch at ESPN the Asian Chicken Salad was delicious and it was not crowded because it was early afternoon so we were able to linger and talk. After lunch we headed back to Epcot and got our picture taken together and Bill headed back home. We decided to get a copy of the picture printed for Bill and give it to him before we left so we went to get our pictures printed. My husband and I were both wearing shorts that our son had made for us with Disney characters on them I was wearing one with Maleificent on the back and my hisband was wearing one with Goofy! We got many compliments from cast members who wanted to know who made the shirts?? They were amazed when we pointed to our ds who is 12, the guys at the Photopass shop were crazy about his artwork and encouraged me to keep supporting our son's talents because he told them he wants to be a Disney Artist one day. After we got the pictures we went back to POR and changed to go to Blizzard Beach. We got there and the weather was looking a little iffy and right after we got in they closed the waterpark for about 30 minutes. It was late enough in the day and the weather was such that most people left so the waterpark was pretty much empty. We rode the family raft ride twice, a couple of the slides, my husband decided to give summit plummet a try (YIKES) even he said it was a little "unnerving" because when you lie down you can't see the slide and it seems like you will just pitch headlong off the mountain!! My son and I did some of the smaller slides, he did the hang and swing out over the water until you get knocked off ride (don't know the name). We made the most of the vacant waterpark and stayed until closing. Needless to say we were tired and went back for some sleep.
Day 6 we decided to try Typhoon Lagoon. The water wave was very cool, I liked, my dh loved it but my ds was not so sure of the wave of water. So we tried their family raft ride which is noce but too short when you comparre it to the one at Blizzrd Beach. We enjoyed it but it was over in the blink of an eye. We tried some of their other slides, enjoyed the lazy river, decided the swimming with the sharks kline was too long so we passed on that and then we hit the water coaster! That was some srious fun, we went over and over switching between the two lines that would allow 3 riders. That was definitely our favorite ride in that park. We had lunch and enjoyed the fresh made mini donuts!!! Oh my, why don't they sell THOSE in the regular parks they are awesome!!! After a long day of water fun we headed back to POR and rested and then did a quick trip to HS and got in a drawing at the Animation studio, rode Star Tours several times and then caught Fantasmic again because we love the villains. We decided since it was Saturday night we would get some rest and hit MK for emh on Sunday night.
Day 7 we got up and headed to Animal Kingdom caught the show Lion King,
stopped into AFrica and said hi to Bill and gave him the picture of all of us from Epcot, then we rode the Safari and then we all braved Everest, I was not too crazy about my first ride on Everest but my son rode with me and kept me up on what to expect next. I am not too sure about going again...but he loves it! It was very hot so we decided to hit Blizzard Beach for the afternoon. Really enjoyed the family raft ride, the wave pool and the slides where you race and of course the lazy river. Got back to the room and took a rest and then got up at 10 and headed to MK. We got to see the fireworks and images on the castle,managed to do POTC, Pooh's Ride (they have changed the waiting line and have all kinds of fun interactive things to do while you wait including 4 big windows with golden hunny running down them and as you wipe away the hunny different characters are revealed.....not one person walked by that without giving it a try!! Mickey's Philharmagic, Haunted Mansion, The Laugh Floor, BTM several times and we did Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin a bunch of times dh & ds both broke the 999,999 but I only got into the 700,000s. They talked me into trying space mountain and I was terrified. However, I thought it was a little bumpy and jerky mostly because I was so stiff on the ride. It is one I think I can ride again and maybe relax and enjoy!! Back to POR exhausted!
Day 8 We decided to go back to Hollywood Studios. We started at the Animation Studio. We got to see Derek, who is another favorite cast member who drew a picture of Captain Hook for William 7 years ago when he was 5. Then because William had watched so closely, he let William sit at his artist desk and draw his own picture of Peter and Hook. He made William the artist of the day and hung his picture in the Disney Store where he was working. I took about 8 pictures while this unfolded and they are framed and hanging in William's room. I think he knew that day when he sat at that animator's desk that he wanted to go to work for Disney. We ran into Derek about 4 years later while we were on a Disney cruise we were up at Topsiders having breakfast and Derek walked up and said, "Are you the Baxter family?" When I looked at him i realized it was Derek! He was on vacation with his wife and in-laws but he recognized our family and took the time to come say hello to us!!! Happily he is doing great and he and his wife now have an adorable one year old son!!! Then we ran into our cast member friend Isaac, he imediately recognized William and gave us a very warm welcome. We were able to catch two of his classes and I learned how to draw Woody! It was wonderful to catch up with Isaac and Derek. Then we took the backstage tour and it was really quite impressive. I can't believe we have missed it all these years. Then we headed over to ride Toy Story Mania, when we got out of the ride we were in the middle of a thunderstorm so we threw on our ponchos and headed to the 50's Prime Time Diner and had a wonderful lunch! The rest of the day was for R & R