Hey Gram, Nice of you to stop by, BFF.
Yes, I suppose you can think Shrek thinks about you that much, but it's usually when he tells me to get you back here. He knows how needy I am for my imaginary friends.
Last edited by Grammyof2 : Today at 07:35 AM. Reason: kissed the light-up magnifying mirror goodbye - that may be the funniest line you ever typed
Ten points for the Contemporary.
On with the story...
Monday, November 24
Rise and shine! The forecast promised 75 and sunny for our Epcot morning. E couldn’t wait for the long monorail ride. We were so excited about taking Mee Maw Soarin, so we hopped to it. Breakfast in the lounge was lovely again. There’s nothing better than tea and fruit with a newspaper and view of Seven Seas Lagoon! We could almost see The World waking up each day. From the still calm of sunrise at 7:00 to the ferries, launches, and monorail humming through that first hour, we felt like flies on the wall of an unfolding movie set. I think Walt would feel good about the stage he envisioned.
The monorail crowd, though light, promised slightly larger park crowds than we’d seen over the weekend.
Polite 14 year old tried to wake up for Epcot.
No matter. Armed with an excellent plan and plenty of experience, we pressed forward. We split up for the group to get to Test Track while I scored Soarin’ Fastpasses. Have I mentioned how much I dislike the Soarin’ queue? I know I’m not alone, but when we were routed to the right escalators and the line was at the top of the stairs, I was reminded of the poor design. It took me about 20 minutes to secure the Fastpasses. I’ll use this opportunity to remind you to get to the park early if you are there during a holiday week.
I called Shrek and encouraged the group to ride Test Track without me. I used my few minutes in the TT dump area to brush up on my GM knowledge. I also ran into two different families from home. I knew both would be in Epcot that morning, but it was fun to run into them! E later reported seeing the third grade classmate on TT but confessed not speaking to her. What in the world??
After a wonderful conversation with Crush and ride through the EAC, we watched the manatees for a bit then Soared over California. Mee Maw LOVED LOVED it! She pronounced it her favorite. I wish I could bottle it up for her to do again and again. Really, the swelling nature of the experience, including the score, is much like Mee Maw herself. Don’t you find exuberance and unbridled joy while you’re flying? Well, that’s how you would feel after a few minutes with Mee Maw. Yep. She Soars through life yet undergirds everyone she knows. Her spirit is infectious. That’s the good kind of infection. Yep.
This is to show you that A was awake by now.
My Golden Sunshine, E, loves some Japanese steakhouse. So when we talked about ADRs for this trip I promised we would try Epcot’s Teppan Edo. Our lunch ADR left us enough time for a nice stroll to the back of world Showcase. On our way, we saw the World Showcase Segway tour returning to Future world. I did that tour in September with plenty of fabulous Vikings; it was fantastic! I considered booking it for Shrek and A for this trip, but decided to save it for another vacation. If you’ve ever wondered about it, it is worth your time and Disney dollars!
As we approached World Showcase through the giant Christmas Light Arch, E spied the Friend Ship across the lake. That boy can develop a foot cramp faster than you can say ‘lazy.’ We had no intention of waiting for the boat we didn’t need. I had the pleasure of waling alongside the poor downtrodden, whiny E while the other three went ahead. I almost left him in the Canada gallows. He watched that boat and carefully timed his pace so the boat would beat us to France. I wasn’t about to let that happen and was rewarded with a good ten minute finish on ferry. I continue to remind E he doesn’t have all the answers, but might as well be spitting in the wind. I promised (whoops!) we’d catch it later if it was close when we returned.
Guess what? Never happened and he never mentioned it again. Oh, the foot healed about the time he raced up the steps to Teppan Edo.
Along the way, my wonderful husband’s star tipped a bit in the sky. He failed me. Yes he did. The man who knows his Disney characters opened his mouth before speaking. It’s not that he doesn’t do that on a regular basis, it’s just that sometimes the results are more cringe-worthy than others. For example, a few years ago we passed Pinocchio in his usual spot on Main Street near the MK opening. Shrek smiled, pointed, and announced, “Look! There’s Guiseppe!”
Yes he did. Poor Gepetto, already playing second fiddle to Pinocchio, suffered a cruel name-mangling from a reputed character expert. I was so bummed. I mean, for years we’ve regularly snickered at Country Bears confused with Lion King and Jungle Book characters. We’ve wondered at families calling the TTA the Monorail. We know our Disney characters and attractions.
So you can imagine my heart dropping as we passed France and Shrek said, “Look. There’s Wendy!”
I dies a thousand deaths. I am blushing as I type this. Now GRANTED, It WAS the back of her blue dress and he did see her from a distance, but still. WENDY? In France? There’s not enough pixie dust to get her there! I stared him down hard. Speechless. A was laughing too hard to correct him. Mee Maw was looking at flowers. A finally eeked out a “You mean BELLE?!” but it was too late. The damage was done. Fortunately, Shrek was gifted with the ability to laugh at myself, which is a good thing. It comes in handy if you know what I mean.
Wendy.
Really.
Moving along…
Delightful! We had a simply lovely experience at the newly refurbished—but entirely new to us—steakhouse. We watched the sushi chefs as we waited for our table.
E, despite being the fan of grilled foods, of course ordered the pre-cooked teriyaki because it was served in a monorail car.
The steak, lobster, chicken, and shrimp I tried were delicious. Our chef was very entertaining. The kids never tire of the ole onion volcano and egg shell in the hat trick.
I skipped dessert. I know! Surprising!I had my brain focused on a French pastry and nothing offered in Japan could deter me. I mean, if Disney is going to offer me French pastry as a Snack credit, why would I use it for a water bottle?
Shrek had his brain focused on, you guessed it, his nap.
We caught Serveur Amusant on our way back around the World. I don’t think we’ve ever seen the whole show. Cool.
I slipped into the pastry shop during the end of the show. My eyes welled up as I studied the fabulous choices. I finally took the advice of the tres cute CM and ordered a napoleon, which is French for 17 layers of pastry and sweetened heavy cream. I was even haughty enough to text a pic of the bakery to my dear Ashclan. I think I owe her a napoleon at next year’s Meet.
Oh, I almost forgot this! As we walked by Britain, A very obviously whispered something to me. He had a celebrity sighting to report.
Mr. Geico Caveman. I made him pretend to pose while I pretended to take a non-picture of him. A pronounced it the worst non-picture spying-on-someone-picture-ever.
We rode the re-vamped Spaceship Earth on our way out of the park. I really like it! We all thought the CG touches at the end were way cool. Mee Maw was mesmerized. Mostly, though, we talked about the time we were stuck in there for 45 minutes a couple of years ago.
As we approached the monorail, E declared he was NOT tired and had no intention of resting. I reminded him we were going to Chef Mickey’s that evening and Spectro and Wishes that night. He insisted he wanted to stay at a park or swim. My wheels started spinning.
We scored the front of the monorail on the long ride back! Shrek was generous enough to allow us to ride up front. It never ceases to fascinate me. E studied every inch of track before we changed trains for the CR leg of the return.
Along the way, I thought of an activity for the two of us. A actually wanted to rest, so I whispered to E that I’d check into some bike rentals for the two of us. A and I had rented bikes at Wilderness Lodge on our Christmas trip there five years ago, when he was about E’s current age. It was a great time! We rode all over Ft. Wilderness and checked out the decorated campsites.
Bikes? Christmas decorations? Energy, and, most importantly, RVs, would make this idea a ticket to Magic for E.
Have I told you that E is obsessed (his word…) with RVs? He and Shrek hit the RV show every year and the boy continues to ask Santa for the biggest one in production. For E’s January birthday, Shrek scored an incredible home on wheels for our driveway birthday overnight. Yes he did.
You have never seen such a happy eight year old boy. We talk about campers (camp buses, he calls them) on the highway. He dreams of RV home ownership some day.
So, as you might guess, I knew this would be a blast that might be lost on the rest of the family.
I have to take a short break but will be back tonight to tell you all about it!
Yeah, I need to exercise...