Disney according to THE Spreadsheet... Day 4

[clubhouse]

Day 4... Pool time, Recuperation & Epcot & Teppan Edo...Sunday 5th September 2010

Cast: Me 34, Disney addict
DH: 37, “likes” Disney – Obsessive Researcher – it’s all got to be on THE Spreadsheet
DS: 3 Disney addict like me, loves Toy Story – looking forward to meeting Lotso and Jack Sparrow
DD: Turns 2 on our trip, my Princess - loves Tinkerbell


Sooooo, last night was shall we say eventful and I'd rather forget it. What better place to do that, eh? Awake at 5am and glad the night was over. DH not feeling 100% either but we both decide to stick to the plan as per THE Spreadsheet, to our relief we have a relatively easy day planned as we wanted to be fresh for our evening meal at Teppan Edo as this was one we are really looking forward to.

DD woke at 6am and DS stirred soon after, as I was feeling a bit delicate we all got up and we folded the sofa bed away and started to get organised for the day ahead. We like that we could fold this away, hide the pillows etc in the trunk/coffee table and have such a lot of living space. The seating area was great, however DD behaves better and eats more if she is shall we say "confined" to a high chair. From reading about the accomodation at SSR, I had thought that all the units had a high chair but couldn't find one anywhere. Called Mousekeeping at 7am and got one delivered very quickly, thankfully had some dollars handy for a tip.

Kids had the obligatory Lucky Charms (I wasn't prepared for the green poo it resulted in DD - still in nappies - this gave me quite a shock, so be warned!) and toast, with some dry toast for me. DH had coffee, using the coffee provided in the room and reported that it was acceptable. I had brought some tea bags and after a good cuppa was starting to feel a bit better.

After tidying everything away we got ready to check out the pool and had the daily wrestle with the kids to make sure they had sun cream on. What a palaver - are all kids like this? Eventually we are organised and the kids are in their UV suits with sun hats, we have checked THE spreadsheet and it reminds us the take arms bands but that we don't need pool towels.

Soon we arrive at the quite pool at Congress Park, boy oh boy it's quiet.

Could be because it's not 8am yet. We grab some towels - which are very nice, soft a fluffly as they should be and a couple of sun beds. The kids love it here at this pool and it is soon christened "The Froggie Pool" due the to Frog Fountains at each corner. We play here for a while and the kids love it.

I like it because it has sensible steps to get in and out rather than having to haul yourself up and down a ladder - much more able to make a graceful entrance or exit .

We spend about an hour splashing, swimming and relaxing and have fun watching the squirrels. The highlight is the skywriter over Downtown Disney making a huge Smiley Face - we use a smiley face reward chart for DS and DD, so they thought this meant that they were being very, very good .

After a bit we decide to make our way over the the main pool at The Springs. I will not lie to you, it's a bit of a trek! But we didn't mind as although it was very hot we were all a bit damp from the pool so kept relatively cool. We managed to herd the Bambinos all the way and from memory I think it took us about 10 - 15 minutes, remember though the kids always take twice as long to get from A to B! This pool looks great and it's definately busier, but we manage to grab some nice dry towels and a table over beside the Donald Duck statue. Its before 10am and the fountains aren't on and the slide is still closed. We have a swim to cool off after our walk up and I am pleased to see this is a zero entry pool, great no need to embarrass myself getting in and out at this pool either, yay! When the water jets come of the kids are stunned and have a great time running about and splashing us.



We manage to play for another hours, DH and I take turns sneaking off to have a look round the Artists Palette and shop. We are both impressed with the selection available.

After an hour we are all getting tired and walk back to Congress Park, takes a bit longer as we are wrangling grumpy kids by now but we make it. We lose DS's sun hat on the way...must remember to go to reception about that...

A bit miffed mousekeeping have not been, but it's still early I suppose. I made my excuses and crashed out for a bit as last night's excitement has taken it's toll . They all had a bit of a snack, yogurt and fruit I think and then everyone retires for a rest.

The alarm shatters the silence at 2pm and we drag ourselves from our beds, grudgingly. We are all ready and out by 3pm at sound arrive at the Big Ball Park (sorry Epcot). We drive through the parking booths with a smug look on our faces, kerrching, thats another $14 saved, ha .

We park at
and walk into the park as we are quite close and hate having to collapse the buggy, stow all the stuff, climb into the tram, lift the kids up and down, climp out, unfold the buggy, stow the stuff, strap the kids in blah blah, parents out there, I know you know what I'm talking about!

We do some photopass pics and again the kids choose not to cooperate, beginning to regret prepaying this now as I am not sure we'll get any nice pics. Hope some of the photographers can catch some nice candid shots - ie ones the kids are not posing for as the posed ones so far are scowly, frowny or worse they break out the cheese faces!

Right, checking THE Spreadsheet we see that we have a bit of time before our dinner reservation so give into DS to have a go on "the big ball". He is fascinated with this as last year when we were here it was having a refurb so he didn't get to ride. We end up having 2 goes and have fun emailing our postcards back to FIL and MIL just to rub it in that we're in Disney and they're not (I can be a bit mean when I put my mind to it ).

Then it's time to make out way over to the World Showcase and round to Japan.

Continued on next post

[clubhouse]

Continued from above...

We check in at Teppan Edo and are initially a bit confused as it ajoins Tokyo Dining. The reception staff are very good though and our buzzer soon goes off. Our server introduces herself and checks if we are on DDP and we confirm we are on the standard plan. She points out that DD is not covered and we say this is fine as she will eat from our plates anyway. We choose Diets coke, green tea and Apple juice, Asakusa, Nihon Bashi and kids Tori. Followed by icecream and ginger cake. The food was really tasty but due to the excitement of watching the chef prepare everything I forget to take photos, I did capture the onion volcano though.







The kids have a ball watching everything going on and we are amazed that DS clears his plate. DD on the other had doesn't eat much, but is drinking plenty and manages to get through a few extra cartons of Apple Juice - our server keeps checking we understand we need to pay for these, YES, we tell her! Although $8.85 is probably a bit steep for 3 Small Apple Juice cartons, maybe it's the tight Scot in me? Maybe its because DD was squirting the Apple juice all over the place, who knows? DH loved the food and even managed to have some of mine as I was feeling well dodgy according to my notes .

The bill was $101.93, 2 adult TS credits and a kids credit, we leave $20 cash as the tip and settle our Apple juice bil $8.85 separately. We are loving the Dining Plan, it's great being able to choose from all this great food, knowing it's already included in the cost of your holiday. For us it means our spending money, really is just that!

MouseGear is calling out to me and we spend a bit of time browsing as we need a new hat for DS and the kids each have some dollars from MIL and FIL. DS gets a Peter Pan playset and Goofy hat and DD gets a Baby Goofy in a blanket and I get a lovely WDW cagoul, just in case as it takes up less space than a poncho or was it just because it just because it was A WDW CAGOUL? $63.69 later our savings on the parking are wiped out. I think charging everything back to the room could be dangerous, but no tab on THE spreadsheet for this so I just get on with it.

I feel like I need a bit of a walk so send DH off to have a go on Mission Space as there is no wait and I get a bit of fresh air with the kids while we wait. Much happier doing this knowing we can contact each other if need be with our trusty NET 10 phones.

When we get together again we have a look round he Aquarium and have a go on the Nemo ride, which we all enjoy. It is renamed the MIPE ride as DS is convinced this is what the Seagulls are calling at the entrance and everytime we approach the ride for the rest of the holiday we all break in to choruses of "mipe, mipe, MIPE, MIPE". Well, we thought it was funny . We stop for a few photos with Bruce.



DH and DS take a quick potty break and DD amuses herself playing hide and seek.



From here we have a walk round The Land and having not used any snack credits we decide to stop at Sunshine Seasons for a cookie and a drink - used 2 credits, only 40 to go! On our way out DS almost goes into meltdown mode as he has spotted his pal Mickey at the Garden Grill and couldn't understand why he wasn't saying hello as he's his pal after all? I can see his logic but explain we need to come back another day to have dinner with Mickey.

At 8.50pm we decide we've had it and walk back to the car, where we are able to see most of the Illuminations fireworks. We all get a much need cool drink from the cooler we have stowed in the car.

We're soon home and I am gutted to see that the Mousekeepers have not left me ( sorry, the children) a towel animal or taken the tip envelope I have crafted for them. Worse, no new towels, lucky I had washed all yesterdays ones then.

Tidied up, washed and storied by 9.30pm, 10pm - sleep .

Next - Day 5 -Animal Kingdom

[mossyflossy]

great day, your daughter is just too cute.

[LDISNEYFOX]

A really great day. I would love to book Teppan Edo but my kids don't fancy it. Shame!

Great photos. Your daughter is stunning. Bless her she looks so happy. Looking forward to reading more.

[Cinnabon]

Another great day, we loved Tappen Edo.
We never got any towel animals in the whole of our stay at SSR.

[MEZZA]

Glad your feeling a bit better
Lovely day

[bella9]

A lovely day, glad you were feeling better too. Hope you, sorry, the children get their towel animal next time. Great piccies btw.

[orlandosgr8]

A lovely day and wonderful photos

[summersun]

great report

[clubhouse]

Originally Posted by LDISNEYFOX

A really great day. I would love to book Teppan Edo but my kids don't fancy it. Shame!

Great photos. Your daughter is stunning. Bless her she looks so happy. Looking forward to reading more.

See more...

Think you should book Teppan Edo anyway, I'm sure the kids would love watching the food being prepared and the chefs are really entertaining as well as producing great food.

Thanks for your kind comments about DD, she is a monster most of the time, albeit a very cute one.