A Loooonnng Walk!
Friday, 11/9 Part 5
We were making our way around the World Showcase, coming up to one of my favorite booths...the CHEESE booth! I know, I know, Cheese doesn't sound that exciting right? Well it IS! Because they have FONDUE! I had the fondue last year, and I loved it. It's basically just cheese sauce with a bread stick, but I just think it is fantastic! So Brandon got in line and I went and grabbed one of those tables that you stand up at right near the lagoon and waited for him for a few minutes...soon her returned with my lovely fondue!
It did NOT disappoint, it was so good! I'm not going to lie, when my breadstick was finished and there was still cheese left, I looked around to see if anyone was watching and I drank the rest of it...yep...I'm not proud, but I did what had to be done!
Brandon got the cheese plate and some red wine, which he made me try along with tiny pieces of each cheese. I know nothing about wine, but I have to admit, sometimes I do like the pairing of wine with cheese!
While we were eating, this older couple came up to us and asked if they could share our table and we said yes, and we started chatting with them about Disney. They said they were there volunteering at the golf tournament that was going on that weekend, which meant they got into the parks for free, and they do it every year, and they are DVC members, so they come to Disney a lot. Then they told us to buy DVC and I just laughed and said "you don't have to convince me" so they tried to sell Brandon on it...he said maybe someday!
I'll believe it when I see it! They were really nice and we talked to them for a while, even after we were all finished eating, it was just nice to have adults to talk to for once who were enthusiastic about Disney World! I have NO ONE in real life who I can talk to who shares my love of Disney, except my sister and one friend who goes to Disney once a year.
I didn't want to eat anymore, since we had our late ADR that night, but there was something I was dying to do...it was the first night of the Osborne Lights and I really wanted to see them! I figured if we timed it right, we could go over there, see the lights and then make it back to Epcot in time for our ADR! So I mentioned it to Brandon and he said he didn't care, which then had me ask how we should get there...I suggested either taking a bus or walk, but then I didn't think it made sense to walk all the way to the front of the park to get a bus, so we decided to walk!
The sun was starting to go down and the World Showcase looked amazing as we made our way over to the International Gateway. The weather was absolutely perfect that night, the sunset was gorgeous, and because I'm a dork, I was actually looking forward to the long walk to DHS because it's something we've never done before!
We started our walk to the Boardwalk, and again, I was reminded of how much I love the Epcot resorts area! I love the Boardwalk SO much, I just love the fun atmosphere!
I wasn't really sure which way to go once we got to the middle, if we should go to the end of the Boardwalk, or cut through the pool area...I thought I remembered seeing a map on the DIS of the walking route to DHS and it said to go through the pool area, but I didn't want to get us lost, so Brandon went in a shop to ask while I waited outside.
I LOVE this place, it's SO pretty! I really need to stay here...it's on the top of my list for my next trip!
Brandon came out and told me that I was right, we did have to cut through the pool area and go towards the left to get to the path, so we made our way to the scary clown pool and started our walk to DHS!
At first we were like, yeah, this is great, it's not bad at all! It was quiet and peaceful, and you walk along the water, and watch the boats go by...then you realize just how long of a walk it is and you start getting tired!
I was starting to feel like we would never get there, and then we finally saw it, off in the distance! It was kind of cool, coming in from that way, and I found out where the buses that go to other parks are! I never knew, since we hardly ever use buses!
I timed the walk from the International Gateway up until we actually stepped into the park, and it took exactly 30 minutes! I've read that people have done it in 20 minutes and I don't see how that's possible, unless you're jogging!
We went into DHS and I was immediately just sucked into Christmas! I think DHS has the best Christmas music of all the parks, and the combination of the lights that are already in the park and the extra Christmas decorations make it extra festive during the holidays, I love it! I love feeling like I stepped into Christmas!
We didn't really have time to look around we wanted to get to the lights, so we walked really fast to the back of the park. I hate the new thing that they do with the Osborne Lights now, they herd everyone into the back and make you go in all the way at the end. I guess it makes sense when there are tons of people trying to get in to see the lights, which there were that night, but I find it annoying!
We finally got there, and the lights were just as spectacular as I remembered them to be!
Look at all of the people! I knew it would be crazy, being opening night, but wow!
I'm not going to put up very many pictures from this night, because we did go again and I got much better pictures on a different night, but here are a few, just to tide you over until then!
I Instagrammed this one:
I found it really difficult to take good pictures of the lights that night because of all the people, and now looking at my pictures, it seems like there was a smudge on my lens, because a lot of them are blurred in the middle! But the lights were beautiful, I love being in the middle of them and watching them dance and having Christmas music blasted into my ears! If I could see them every night, I probably would! I'm missing the Christmas season so much right now, I miss Christmas lights and Christmas music! The combination of Disney AND Christmas is sometimes almost too much for me to handle!
We watched the lights for a little while longer, and then we had to get going! We were going to take a bus back to Epcot, but we knew that wouldn't exactly be a quick way to get there, so we left ourselves lots of extra time.
On the way out, I had to take a few pictures, since I didn't when we got there:
Soooo close to the Tower of Terror!!!
We did take a photopass picture, but looking at it now, I feel bad if I put it up, because Brandon is making a strange face in it!
Which is too bad, because it could have been a nice picture if it wasn't for that!
I tried to get a good picture of the tree, but I feel like no matter how hard I try, I just can't!
We walked over to the buses, and of course, the one for Epcot had a HUGE line! So Brandon got annoyed and said forget it, he'd rather just walk. I wasn't too thrilled with the idea of doing that walk again, but whatever, it would probably be faster, so we started back to Epcot!
I think we actually made it back faster than when we went there! I was so nervous we'd be late for our ADR that I made us walk SO fast, which Brandon was not happy about!
When we went into Epcot, we had a little time to kill, so we went into the store in Canada to look around.
Every time we go to Disney, I want some pajamas from Canada, they are always SO cute, and I never buy any! Well, I bought some pants finally!
I loved them, but I didn't try them on, so I was hoping they would fit!
After I paid, we went to none other than...Le Cellier to check into our ADR! Did you really think we were going somewhere different?
We checked in at 8:30 and I think our ADR was at 8:50? We didn't get seated until 9:15, they were really busy that night! If you were trying to check in super early, they wouldn't even let you, they would tell you to come back later! Crazy!
I got my favorite drink in the world, a godiva chocolate martini
and I'm guessing Brandon had wine. I also had a bowl of cheddar cheese soup
and the mushroom filet. No subbing the risotto for the cream cheese mashed potatoes though, since it was dinner! The risotto is really good, though ,so I didn't care! Brandon got the same thing I did, except he got Lobster mac and cheese instead of the soup! I only took those 2 pictures in the restaurant because I was too tired and I kept forgetting to take pictures before I started eating!
Everything was amazing, as it always is there, but we didn't leave until after 10:30! This was our first time having dinner there since it's changed to 2 credits, and I have to admit, I like lunch a lot better! And now lunch is changing to 2 credits! I hope it doesn't change too much!
The park was closed and Illuminations was over by the time we left! I love walking through the park after it's closed, it's so quiet and you feel like you have it all to yourself! We were so tired though, that we didn't really stop to take pictures or enjoy it, we just walked to our car and went back to POR! We were ready for a full night of sleep, after getting up so early that morning! It was SUCH a great day though, we did so much, went to 3 parks, had some food and wine, saw the Osborne Lights...perfect!
Up next...DHS round 2!