Sunday 4 November - Snacking All Over the World
Julie (38) - demented planner
Brian (40) - planning, whats that?
Michael (11) - quiet, clone of his Dad, hormones just starting to kick in, auditioning for Snow Whites 8th dwarf, Grouchy
Andrew (5½) - not quiet, mummys boy, very fussy eater, favourite saying of the holiday Excuse me, is this ride scary?
The Plan -
Epcot
10.00 am PS for character breakfast at the Garden Grill
7.30 pm PS at Rose and Crown for Illuminations
Decided that today should still be another Epcot day, despite the fact that our 10.00 am character breakfast PS had been cancelled due to the Garden Grill opening later and not now serving breakfast, and we cancelled the 7.30 PS at the Rose and Crown as we had had a ringside seat for Illuminations on our cruise last night and didnt feel the need to see it again so soon. Still, as Meatloaf says, two out of three aint bad - at least we hadnt decided to go to a different park !!!!
Arrived at Epcot just after 10.00 am - park hours today FW 10.00 am - 7.00 pm and WS 12.00 - 9.00 pm. The park seemed slightly busier than the previous week, but not too bad at all.
First stop was Spaceship Earth again as Andrew had loved this ride last week and we wanted to get him off to a good start. For the same reason we gave Test Track a wide berth - LOL.
Next stop was The Living Seas. Wasnt really expecting too much from this but was pleasantly surprised and spent a lot longer in here than I thought we would, especially watching the dolphins and the manatee - awesome.
Next ice creams all round and then The Land. The Living With the Land boat trip had a 60 minute wait so we got FP for 2 hours later. Luckily The Circle of Life and Food Rocks were both walk ons so did those - OK but been there, done that, got the T-Shirt and wouldnt bother again - and then went over to Innoventions East after a quick detour to Innoventions West for another go on the racing game.
The boys made some paper in Innoventions East which they were thrilled about, and then we generally just pottered about, again both Innoventions places were extremely quiet and didnt have to wait for anything.
Back to the Land and straight onto the boat ride with our Fast Passes. Enjoyed this but dont think I would wait more than 10 minutes in the Standby Line to get on it - Standby time was still posted as 45 minutes !!!
As it was now about 1.30 pm and we were feeling a bit peckish we all got cookies from the food court and headed over the World Showcase, munching as we went.
Decided to do World Showcase anti-clockwise this time as we had really rushed through the last few countries last week, and also Michael was desperate to try some more Yummy Sushi and the stand for that was between the UK and Canada.
First stop Canada and I had to try some Cheddar Cheese Soup. This was absolutely delicious and very filling. Someone posted the recipe on the American boards so I plan to have a go myself soon but Im sure it wont taste this good at home!!! We then watched the O Canada film before moving on. BTW, there was some building work going on in Canada. Does anyone know what that might be?
Tried some Beef Stroganoff from the Poland and Russia stand and then next stop was the Kids Marketplace stand to buy Michaels Yummy Sushi and we were just in time to see a demonstration of how to make it so he got another two pieces free - a very happy bunny.
Arrived in the UK just in time to see a very funny Changing of the Guard act. Dont know if this was the World Showcase Players again, but they were very, very funny.
By now it had started to drizzle so we watched the Impressions de France film and then rushed through Morocco and into the Japanese shop as by now the rain was bouncing down. Of course the boys had to spend some of their dollars on Pokemon cards to add to the thousands they already have at home and we had a good look round in here waiting for the rain to stop which it eventually did.
We got to the USA just in time for the start of the 4.30 pm Barrage performance and this was really, really good. Would definitely watch this again. Just had to sample the honey lemon tart from the USA food stand before moving on and it was delicious.
Next stop Italy for Pepperoni Pizza all round from the Italian food stand - very tasty and filling, and a surprisingly large portion so filed the boys up nicely.
Whizzed pretty quickly through Germany, China and Norway as we had spent a lot of time in these countries last week, but had to stop in Mexico for another ride on El Rio del Tempo - a Mexican version of Its a Small World so as you can imagine Andrew loved this ride.
By now it was getting quite busy as it was getting close to 6.00 pm and TOD was due to start at 6.30 pm so after getting a portion of Kids Quesadilla for everyone from the Food Stand in Mexico (queued up about 15 minutes for this which was the only queue at any of the food carts we encountered) and then battling against the crowds coming into World Showcase we headed back to Future World.
We would all have had another ride on Test Track (except Andrew of course) if there had been a short queue but standby time was posted at 30 minutes so we didnt bother as we didnt want to miss Ellens Energy Adventure which closed at 7.00 pm. We made it in time for the last show and I am so glad we didnt miss this, it was great. Didnt realise that it was part film, part ride and thought it was really clever how the seats split up into sections when you go on the ride bit through the dinosaurs and then come back together at the end.
Last stop of the day was Honey, I Shrunk the Audience which surprisingly Michael was reluctant to go into and had been saying all week that he didnt want to do this making all kinds of pathetic excuses. Poor lad, it musnt be cool when you are 11 to admit to being frightened of a film !!!!!! I think he had seen a clip of this show on one of the Disney preview videos that we have at home and something on it had made him think it was going to be really scary (still dont know which bit). Everyone else, including Andrew surprisingly, wanted to see this and as we didnt want to leave him outside in the dark on his own we made him come in with us but told him he didnt have to wear the glasses and he could keep his eyes shut and his legs off the floor if that was what he wanted. He sat in the theatre with his eyes shut and his baseball cap over his face so he was fine (think he did sneak a quick look every now and again but I had Andrew on my knee so I was otherwise occupied !!!!).
Decided after this that it was time to leave, but not before admiring the dancing fountains outside the theatre. These are great and looked really good in the dark.
Another action packed day, and surprisingly we were not very hungry - dont know why, we hadnt had a meal since breakfast !!!! Left the park just before the start of Illuminations and back to the hotel to collapse into bed exhausted.
Tomorrow - Hollywood & Vine character breakfast, Disney Quest, Golden Corral
Julie (38) - demented planner
Brian (40) - planning, whats that?
Michael (11) - quiet, clone of his Dad, hormones just starting to kick in, auditioning for Snow Whites 8th dwarf, Grouchy
Andrew (5½) - not quiet, mummys boy, very fussy eater, favourite saying of the holiday Excuse me, is this ride scary?
The Plan -
Epcot
10.00 am PS for character breakfast at the Garden Grill
7.30 pm PS at Rose and Crown for Illuminations
Decided that today should still be another Epcot day, despite the fact that our 10.00 am character breakfast PS had been cancelled due to the Garden Grill opening later and not now serving breakfast, and we cancelled the 7.30 PS at the Rose and Crown as we had had a ringside seat for Illuminations on our cruise last night and didnt feel the need to see it again so soon. Still, as Meatloaf says, two out of three aint bad - at least we hadnt decided to go to a different park !!!!
Arrived at Epcot just after 10.00 am - park hours today FW 10.00 am - 7.00 pm and WS 12.00 - 9.00 pm. The park seemed slightly busier than the previous week, but not too bad at all.
First stop was Spaceship Earth again as Andrew had loved this ride last week and we wanted to get him off to a good start. For the same reason we gave Test Track a wide berth - LOL.
Next stop was The Living Seas. Wasnt really expecting too much from this but was pleasantly surprised and spent a lot longer in here than I thought we would, especially watching the dolphins and the manatee - awesome.
Next ice creams all round and then The Land. The Living With the Land boat trip had a 60 minute wait so we got FP for 2 hours later. Luckily The Circle of Life and Food Rocks were both walk ons so did those - OK but been there, done that, got the T-Shirt and wouldnt bother again - and then went over to Innoventions East after a quick detour to Innoventions West for another go on the racing game.
The boys made some paper in Innoventions East which they were thrilled about, and then we generally just pottered about, again both Innoventions places were extremely quiet and didnt have to wait for anything.
Back to the Land and straight onto the boat ride with our Fast Passes. Enjoyed this but dont think I would wait more than 10 minutes in the Standby Line to get on it - Standby time was still posted as 45 minutes !!!
As it was now about 1.30 pm and we were feeling a bit peckish we all got cookies from the food court and headed over the World Showcase, munching as we went.
Decided to do World Showcase anti-clockwise this time as we had really rushed through the last few countries last week, and also Michael was desperate to try some more Yummy Sushi and the stand for that was between the UK and Canada.
First stop Canada and I had to try some Cheddar Cheese Soup. This was absolutely delicious and very filling. Someone posted the recipe on the American boards so I plan to have a go myself soon but Im sure it wont taste this good at home!!! We then watched the O Canada film before moving on. BTW, there was some building work going on in Canada. Does anyone know what that might be?
Tried some Beef Stroganoff from the Poland and Russia stand and then next stop was the Kids Marketplace stand to buy Michaels Yummy Sushi and we were just in time to see a demonstration of how to make it so he got another two pieces free - a very happy bunny.
Arrived in the UK just in time to see a very funny Changing of the Guard act. Dont know if this was the World Showcase Players again, but they were very, very funny.
By now it had started to drizzle so we watched the Impressions de France film and then rushed through Morocco and into the Japanese shop as by now the rain was bouncing down. Of course the boys had to spend some of their dollars on Pokemon cards to add to the thousands they already have at home and we had a good look round in here waiting for the rain to stop which it eventually did.
We got to the USA just in time for the start of the 4.30 pm Barrage performance and this was really, really good. Would definitely watch this again. Just had to sample the honey lemon tart from the USA food stand before moving on and it was delicious.
Next stop Italy for Pepperoni Pizza all round from the Italian food stand - very tasty and filling, and a surprisingly large portion so filed the boys up nicely.
Whizzed pretty quickly through Germany, China and Norway as we had spent a lot of time in these countries last week, but had to stop in Mexico for another ride on El Rio del Tempo - a Mexican version of Its a Small World so as you can imagine Andrew loved this ride.
By now it was getting quite busy as it was getting close to 6.00 pm and TOD was due to start at 6.30 pm so after getting a portion of Kids Quesadilla for everyone from the Food Stand in Mexico (queued up about 15 minutes for this which was the only queue at any of the food carts we encountered) and then battling against the crowds coming into World Showcase we headed back to Future World.
We would all have had another ride on Test Track (except Andrew of course) if there had been a short queue but standby time was posted at 30 minutes so we didnt bother as we didnt want to miss Ellens Energy Adventure which closed at 7.00 pm. We made it in time for the last show and I am so glad we didnt miss this, it was great. Didnt realise that it was part film, part ride and thought it was really clever how the seats split up into sections when you go on the ride bit through the dinosaurs and then come back together at the end.
Last stop of the day was Honey, I Shrunk the Audience which surprisingly Michael was reluctant to go into and had been saying all week that he didnt want to do this making all kinds of pathetic excuses. Poor lad, it musnt be cool when you are 11 to admit to being frightened of a film !!!!!! I think he had seen a clip of this show on one of the Disney preview videos that we have at home and something on it had made him think it was going to be really scary (still dont know which bit). Everyone else, including Andrew surprisingly, wanted to see this and as we didnt want to leave him outside in the dark on his own we made him come in with us but told him he didnt have to wear the glasses and he could keep his eyes shut and his legs off the floor if that was what he wanted. He sat in the theatre with his eyes shut and his baseball cap over his face so he was fine (think he did sneak a quick look every now and again but I had Andrew on my knee so I was otherwise occupied !!!!).
Decided after this that it was time to leave, but not before admiring the dancing fountains outside the theatre. These are great and looked really good in the dark.
Another action packed day, and surprisingly we were not very hungry - dont know why, we hadnt had a meal since breakfast !!!! Left the park just before the start of Illuminations and back to the hotel to collapse into bed exhausted.
Tomorrow - Hollywood & Vine character breakfast, Disney Quest, Golden Corral
