Day 2, Part 1: Dad Tries out Guardians

We were up surprisingly early this morning considering we weren’t planning on rope dropping.  I got up a bit before 6:30 and took a quick shower before we all headed to the lounge to get some coffee.  Sadly, by the time we got there, they were already out of coffee in the pre-breakfast setup. 

There was also a group of men sitting in the chairs outside the lounge talking loudly, which fortunately we couldn’t hear from our room, but I feel bad for those in rooms right adjacent to that area, that would be an obnoxious wakening up to those loud men at 6:30am! 

Since it was only about 6:40 at that point, we went back to the room to make coffee there to hold me over.  I really cannot function without coffee in the morning.

Just before 7 we headed back to the lounge to check out the breakfast offerings.  By then a small crowd had gathered waiting for the opening.  They opened promptly at 7, so we all headed in to see what the offerings were this morning. 

The breakfast options this morning were pretty good.  We had scrambled eggs, a potato hash, ham, and my favorite, pineapple!  We loaded up our plates and decided to just eat in the lounge this morning, so no pictures this time around.  I also got a few cups of coffee. 

After breakfast we had a slow morning getting ready and just relaxing until just before 8:30 when we decided it was time to head out.  I also at some point this morning purchased an ILL for Guardians. 

We arrived at Epcot right around 8:30, and there was still a long line to get in.  This morning the early entry for resort guests was at 8:30, so I had hoped most people would be in by then, but at least the line moved quickly!

Once in we ended up taking a ton of pictures around the park!

Our Lightning Lane for Guardians was early this morning, so after getting a ton of pictures we headed over there.

Now, after finding out my dad thought Slinky was too intense, I wasn’t sure if having him go on Guardians would be a good idea, but he insisted he would be fine.  So off we went!

We decided that I’d sit next to my dad on the ride, and my goodness, I’m glad I did.  The look on his face during the launch was priceless!

He actually thought that Slinky was more intense than Guardians! 

After Guardians it was already into our prebooked DAS for Soarin, so we made our way over there. 

Now prior to the trip, and I’m pretty sure a few times the previous day, we had gone over the DAS procedure with my dad.  Mainly that mom had to scan in first, and only after she was cleared could we scan in. 

Well, apparently my dad was not listening during these talks, so when we got to Soarin, my dad saw that there was an empty tapstile on the other side, and thinking he was outsmarting us (I was waiting behind my mom), he went over there to scan in.

One thing we failed to mention to my dad, which is totally on us, is the light has to turn green to be able to enter the queue.  (Last time my dad was there they didn’t have any of these fancy things!)

So of course my dad scans in before my mom, his turns blue which means absolutely nothing to him, so he just strolls right in.

Meanwhile, mom and I have totally missed the fact that dad is not behind us (it was crowded around the entrance so I thought he was behind me, I had no idea he moved over to use the other touchpoint!)

So mom scans in, gets confirmed, I scan in, no worries, I turn around to let dad know it’s his turn, and he’s not there. 

Suddenly we see him being led back out of the queue by a CM! 

Fortunately, we were able to get him scanned in properly at that point without anymore issues, but my goodness, how embarrassing!  We made sure after this to remind my dad that mom ALWAYS had to scan in first, regardless of if it was DAS or G+ (just to help prevent any confusion).

We ended up in B3 and had a great flight.  Afterwards my dad proclaimed that ride is his favorite in all of Disney World!

By the time we were done with Soarin, it was time for our prebooked DAS ride on Living with the Land, so we headed over there.

I loved seeing all the decorations, and this made me even more excited to see it later in the trip at night!

After riding Living with the Land, it was just about 11:00am, so we decided it was time for some lunch!  We headed over to Canada which had a bunch of items we wanted to try.

The line here was crazy long (seriously this festival seems to bring in more crowds than F&W!), we ended up waiting about 30 minutes. 

Here we each got the salmon, I got the beef bourguignon, and also the beer flight.  While picking up the food we had my dad run to grab us a table in the shade. 

Food in hand we made our way to the table my dad had secured to dig in.

The food was really good, although the salmon was almost cold, would have been better if it was a bit warmer.  The beef was really good, and I loved the beer flight!

Before we dug in, my mom passed around her spray bottle of hand sanitizer.  Well, when it got back to her she realized she didn’t know where the cap was, so we spent some time looking around the ground for it, figuring it rolled off the table. 

None of us could find it, so we started eating, but my mom was pretty upset that we lost the cap.  So throughout the meal we’d occasionally stop eating and look around for the cap.

We never ended up finding it, which in the end made sense since later in the day as mom was cleaning out her purse, there was the cap!  Apparently she put it back in her purse and forgot, then blamed my dad and I for losing it! 

After finishing our food we decided to head out since we had a super late night ahead of us and we wanted a lot of down time this day to prep.  On the way back we swung by the lounge to pick up some wine, I got a glass of sauvignon blanc, and I also got a preemptive glass of cab for when we got home late at night.  Mom got the same, and we took everything back to the room to rest and relax before our big night!

Next up:  Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, Part 1!