Mom said I had to go! The "Melting in May with Mom" Report! Updated 11/9 - EPCOT!!

[mom2mek]

Sad that there was no Up shirts. I also think that they should carry them somewhere. Afterall, the characters just left the parks and I hear they will return for a new parade in January.

Fantasmic is Noah's favorite, he calls it "Mickey fights the Dragon". Glad that you were able to find a seat, it is crazy how early you have to get there for a seat. It is worth it though!

I hope they do start carrying UP character shirts somewhere, especially with them moving to AK! (I hope so anyway) - At least if they are in a new parade, they should have some merchandise, right?

Fantasmic is great - how cute what Noah calls it! Fighting for a seat isn't fun, but I agree, it's worth it!

Sara

 

[*dreamit*doit*]

Hi Sara!! You have been busy updating! (And I haven't had much time for DISing )

That carrot cake cookie is just calling my name right now!!! I had one for the first time this summer, after reading about it on the boards, and I can't wait to have another one! Isn't the Writer's Stop cute? I had never been in there before, either, but Ramon goes in there to grab coffee, usually while I'm doing something else with the girls. Well, this time it was my turn. He went with the girls and I was on a mission for that cookie. I paired it with a nice warm coffee (even though it was summer and HOT, but it was raining). YUM!!!

Can't wait to hear about your conference-free days!!

 

[mom2mek]

Hi Sara!! You have been busy updating! (And I haven't had much time for DISing )

That carrot cake cookie is just calling my name right now!!! I had one for the first time this summer, after reading about it on the boards, and I can't wait to have another one! Isn't the Writer's Stop cute? I had never been in there before, either, but Ramon goes in there to grab coffee, usually while I'm doing something else with the girls. Well, this time it was my turn. He went with the girls and I was on a mission for that cookie. I paired it with a nice warm coffee (even though it was summer and HOT, but it was raining). YUM!!!

Can't wait to hear about your conference-free days!!

LOVED the Writer's Stop!!! So cute! And you definitely have to have a cup of HOT coffee with that very sweet cookie! Even if it's 100+ degrees outside! I don't know how else to cut through some of the yummy sweetness! It's so good!

Sara

 

[kaysmommie]

LOVED the Writer's Stop!!! So cute! And you definitely have to have a cup of HOT coffee with that very sweet cookie! Even if it's 100+ degrees outside! I don't know how else to cut through some of the yummy sweetness! It's so good!

Sara

Just wanted to comment on your sad smilies that say they need a ticker I need one too LOL.

 

[mom2mek]

Just wanted to comment on your sad smilies that say they need a ticker I need one too LOL.

Pitiful looking, aren't they? Maybe they should be these instead:



(Here's hoping we both have another ticker sooner rather than later)
Sara

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Ahhhh...Fantasmic. It kind of gives me goosebumps just looking at your pictures!

 

[mom2mek]

Hi everyone!!! (crickets....crickets...)

I really do plan on continuing with this report, so hang in there...hope to have an update soon!


But I do have a new ticker!

Check it out!!

Sara

 

[stinkerbell007]

Oh, yeah!!!! I'm so happy you have another trip to plan for. Isn't that just the best?

That means another trip report, right????

I have so much material, I think I need to write a trip report. My sister trip was AWESOME!!!!! Still considering it, and trying to figure out how to find the time to do it. Going through all of the photos sure does bring those memories slamming back though....still so fresh. Aah, good times.

Got the 'work trip' coming up this weekend. Still trying to figure out a good plan of attack for the parks considering my limited time......

Can't wait to hear more. Carry on, my friend.

Linda

 

[mom2mek]

Oh, yeah!!!! I'm so happy you have another trip to plan for. Isn't that just the best?

That means another trip report, right????

I have so much material, I think I need to write a trip report. My sister trip was AWESOME!!!!! Still considering it, and trying to figure out how to find the time to do it. Going through all of the photos sure does bring those memories slamming back though....still so fresh. Aah, good times.

Got the 'work trip' coming up this weekend. Still trying to figure out a good plan of attack for the parks considering my limited time......

Can't wait to hear more. Carry on, my friend.

Linda

Thanks so much Linda! I would LOVE to read a report about your sister trip!!! Don't worry about finding the time - look at me - it's been over a month since I last updated! We will be here to read no matter how long it takes you!! Please, please, please!!!

So what are your days for your work trip looking like? Mostly evenings for parks?? Do tell!

Sara

 

[ladybugmom]

Hi Sara!! All caught up on this TR as well!! Excited to hear about your first full park day!! I hate that we were just getting to WDW as ya'll were leaving. I would have loved to have seen you again!!

 

[mom2mek]

Hi there!!! Remember me?? So sorry I have neglected this thing, but I'm back to post about our first full park day, so here we go....

Day 6 - May 20, 2010
Epcot

Our first full park day was going to be spent at Epcot, but first we had a few things we had to do. I wanted to get the car turned back in since we would not be needing it anymore (this day was Epcot, next day was MK, and then we were leaving), so I had thought I could get up and back to the Poly fairly quickly while Mom was finishing up getting ready.

I took the car for the short ride over to the Car Care Center, filled it up with a little bit of gas – we had hardly used any – and parked it at the Alamo lot and went inside. They handled everything really quickly and asked me where I needed to be dropped back off. I told them the Poly, as I had read somewhere that the transportation was to the resorts, not to the theme parks. Since I had left Mom back in the room getting ready, I figured that would work out fine.

Unfortunately, I waited quite a bit for a shuttle that was heading to the Poly. And while I was sitting there, I heard numerous people ask to be dropped back off at a park or a water park. Drat. I could have just told Mom to monorail it over to Epcot and I would get a shuttle directly there. Oh well. Live and learn, right?

We weren’t in any rush, it was just a thing I wished I had known. Mom was on her way to meet me at the Coffee Bar outside Kona and then we would get the monorail over to Epcot.

We met up at the coffee bar, grabbed two cups of real coffee, and a croissant and muffin and decided to take the resort monorail right from where we were so we could enjoy our “breakfast” instead of eating it while walking to the TTC. Yes, it added on time to our morning as well, but again, we were fine with it – no real hurry. We rode the monorail around to the TTC, exited, and then walked back up the ramp to the Epcot monorail to wait. We must have just missed an Epcot monorail because we waited for quite a while. Our morning was pretty much gone at this point, but I was just happy to have a day of no classes and just soaking up that Disney magic.

When we arrived to Epcot, the first thing we noticed was how different the entrance looked from when we had been there the other day (the last day of the Flower & Garden Festival). What a difference a couple of days makes, huh?

Kind of drab looking compared to the big display on our other day!! No giant campfire, no fishing Goofy, nothing...just a few freshly-planted flowers.

We made our way over to Soarin to grab fastpasses and then decided to walk on over to the World Showcase since it had just opened up. I had made two ADRs for this day and let Mom choose which one she wanted. The earlier one was at San Angel and the later one was at Le Chefs de France. She chose France because she had been wanting to try there and because it was about an hour later than the Mexican one and would give us time to walk a bit longer before lunch. That did not, however, stop us from wanting to get a margarita in Mexico though. We took our time inside the Mexican pavilion and managed to snap a few goofy sombrero pictures.

We took a spin with the Three Caballeros and did a LOT of browsing. Not a whole lot of buying, but I think we pretty much touched everything in all of the stores! LOL! My mom did buy quite a bit of jewelry for gifts though.

(poor Donald)

(love the indoor fireworks)

(Bye, Mexico)

We walked back outside into the BLINDING sun (anyone else ever forget how sunny it is when you leave the Mexican “nightlife” behind….yowzers)!!!

But did I mention how beautiful it was today? The skywriter was out today too – you can see in the bottom of this picture – it was so blinding I just held my camera up and hoped something was in the frame!

It was hot though…..a little bit melty for my taste, but you know what that means, right???

Margarita time!!!

We thought about sharing, but in the end, decided we each needed our own!

The only downfall to me about getting a margarita in Mexico is it usually means I miss out on riding Maelstrom. I don’t want to chug it down and get a brain freeze, but usually the line isn’t long enough at Maelstrom to give me enough time to drink. Oh well….I’ll take the margarita over the ride any day!

I did, however, want to try out something I have only heard about, but never tried….the Norweigan School Bread. Margaritas and school bread together??? Eh, not the best combo, but I made it work as best I could.

The school bread did not disappoint – I loved it. My mom didn’t really care for it though, but I think that is primarily because she doesn’t care so much for coconut.

We moved it along after our quick stop in Norway, and admired the China pavilion for a little while. We didn’t time it right for the movie though, and would have to wait for the next one, so we kept on moving. Snapped a quick pic before we left though:

Took our time enjoying the World Showcase, stopping when we wanted to, walking when we wanted to….ahhh….it was nice. We came upon Sergio in Italy, and stopped to watch his show since neither of us had seen it before. What a hoot!

The little boy he picked from the audience to help him did such a great job!

Before too long we were closing in on France. We were very excited we had actually paid attention to the times schedule and made it in time to see the entire Serveur Amusant show from the beginning this time. The heat was tremendous and I found myself wondering how in the world people come in the summer and enjoy the outdoor shows like this one. Then I thought of how uncomfortable the performers must be. Phew.

The show was fabulous and after it was over, we were right on time for our late lunch ADR, so in we went!

Now for those of you who read my family trip report from February, you know we ate here for dinner then and it was just "ok". Shawn was not a fan, but I enjoyed my dish. What I was more disappointed about on that trip was we didn’t get to see Remy. I know he is animatronic, so they can’t guarantee that he will be out, but I was still sad that we didn’t get to see him. I had not told the kids it was a possibility, so at least it was only me who was upset! I was really hoping Mom and I would get to see him though.

We were seated right away and at a table right next to where I had sat with Shawn and the kids. Our waiter was so sweet (and easy on the eyes….that’s all I’m sayin ) and was quick to get our drink orders and go over anything with us.

Mom ordered the Quiche Lorraine (ham and cheese quiche) and I ordered the Croque Monsieur (the classic French toasted ham and cheese sandwich) which came with a small green salad on the side. We really wanted to try the French Onion soup, so we decided to get my sandwich off the Prix Fixe menu that came with the soup (which we shared) and the dessert (which we shared). It worked out great.

Don’t have a picture of Mom’s quiche, but here is our soup and my sandwich.

It was divine! Even on this very melty day in May, the piping hot French onion soup with the delicious cheese melted on top was fabulous!! We loved the baguette he brought to the table as well!

My sandwich was amazingly good and Mom loved her quiche.

The fact that the bread had cheese melted on the outside of the bread as well as the inside, made it extremely rich and yummy!

For dessert, we ordered the crème brulee, and it did not disappoint.

We were eating our dessert and having some coffee, when we saw Remy making the rounds. I was so excited! When he got to our table, I asked if I could take his picture, and the “waiter” said “sure” and just as I snapped, he put his face down so that I got his picture instead. He was very funny and had us laughing the whole time.

I enjoyed watching how he “operates” Remy! He is very good at what he does!

So overall, we truly enjoyed this meal. I definitely recommend it here for lunch over dinner though. And I loved watching people walk by outside and seeing the Serveur Amusant show getting started again. What a nice break in the afternoon.

I will be back shortly with the rest of our day. Seriously.

Sara

 

[mom2mek]

....Continued from prior post.....

We couldn’t leave France without getting our favorite drink, so after lunch we grabbed two Grey Goose Lemon Slushies and made our way over to the friendship boat dock to get a ride back over to the other side of the lagoon.

These two slushies, however, were not in the ordinary glasses they usually serve them in. Oh no, we got very lucky!!! Apparently, they were waiting for a delivery of more glasses, so they were serving them in the standard Disney World “coffee cup” size cups!! Woo-hooty-hoot!!! It seriously was like having 2 slushies in there for the price of 1! I thought of how nice it would be if they would do that normally because I’m always trying to keep my slushie from melting over the side of my plastic “fancy glass”. It was just wishful thinking – the regular ones are back, I’m sure!

When we finished our ginormous slushies, we rode the boat back over to the Future World side and went to check out the wait time for Test Track. I thought if it wasn’t bad we could try to ride then so we wouldn’t risk what happened in February (missed riding it due to crazy FP line due to a tour group). I believe the wait was 40 minutes or so, so we decided to take our fastpasses and hope for no tour groups like in February!

We made our way over to Soarin to use our FPs from earlier that day and had a great time soaring over California. It’s always fun when you can share in someone’s first experience on an attraction – we had a mom and daughter in line with us who had never been on it. It was so fun to talk to them in the line, and then see them experience it for the first time. The little girl just LOVED it!!

Then we decided to head back to the Poly for a little rest and relaxation. We waited a couple of minutes for a monorail, and since we were in the Tahiti longhouse, we had a very short walk back to our hotel room from the TTC.

We relaxed, cleaned up and headed back to Epcot a couple hours later. We basically wanted to ride Test Track, do some shopping, get some food, and see Illuminations.

And that’s pretty much what we did.

First stop – Test Track! Can’t believe I’m posting this picture and my mom would probably kill me if she knew I did, but it just cracks me up!!! It’s way worse of me than of her, so she shouldn’t be too mad, right?

We saw that they still had the Princess and the Frog displays up from F&G Festival, so I grabbed a couple of pics:

We made our way over to the World Showcase to try and scope out a seat for Illuminations….the night was gorgeous and I couldn’t wait for Mom to see the show since it had been since our 2008 trip in October that she had seen it last (and that night it was rainy and cloudy so the show just wasn’t AS good, ya know)?

If you recall, on this trip, we had opted out of sticking around for Illuminations on the other night we were here for that same reason – it was kind of rainy and windy, and I figured we would give it a whirl on our full Epcot day.

Since we had chosen French food for lunch, we decided to go for Mexican for dinner. This was in May, so the Hacienda was not open yet and they only had the little CS place off to the side selling like 3 or 4 things. We got the combination platter and a plate of empanadas, I think. The line was pretty long at the Mexican place, so by the time we started looking for a spot to sit and eat with a view of Illuminations later (this was about 8:00) it was more difficult than we thought. We couldn’t find a place at one of the little tables they had set up, so we just plopped down next to the fence by the lagoon, ate our dinner, and talked. It was a beautiful night and slowly it started to fill in around us with people. Everyone pretty much sat down and no one was infringing on anyone’s space or blocking anyone’s view. It was lovely. The sun was setting and the excitement was growing as Illuminations got closer to starting.

It turned into a beautiful night for the show and of course, Mom loved it! I did not attempt any pics at this point, as my real camera was dead and I knew my cell phone camera would never take anything of real quality.

When it was over, we waited around until most of the masses were gone from around us and then slowly made our way towards Mouse Gears. We shopped for about 30 minutes – I had to take a picture of this shirt for Shawn….I thought it seemed appropriate for him (and most men).

I love all the details in Mouse Gears – like this nuts and bolts Mickey - it is probably my favorite store in all of Disney World.

We grabbed a monorail “home” to the Poly and hit the sack for a day at the Magic Kingdom tomorrow!!

Sara

 

[ladybugmom]

YAY! What a great Epcot day!! We saw the Serveur Amusant show when we were there in May and we LOVED it--very entertaining!! And I'm glad to hear that you had a great experience at Chefs de France! I've read so many negative reports. And how exciting to see Remy!! Adorable!! The evening sounds perfect! Glad you were able to grab a good spot for Illuminations!!

 

[mom2mek]

YAY! What a great Epcot day!! We saw the Serveur Amusant show when we were there in May and we LOVED it--very entertaining!! And I'm glad to hear that you had a great experience at Chefs de France! I've read so many negative reports. And how exciting to see Remy!! Adorable!! The evening sounds perfect! Glad you were able to grab a good spot for Illuminations!!

Thanks Becky! Chefs was very good for lunch that day! The waiter was friendly and very good at checking on us and refilling our drinks. The food was very good and the place is gorgeous! LIke I said, Shawn did not care for it when we ate dinner there in February, but I will have to bring him back for lunch one day - the soup alone is worth it! Yummo!! I was so happy to see Remy! He was adorable!

Illuminations = So pretty!!!

Sara

 

[laashley]

Sounds like a great day at Epcot. I love how you were able to go at your own pace and take in everything! Can you tell I am excited about our adult only trip? With the kids I just feel like I am trying to fit in things for everyone. Can't wait to just worry about two people! Though I am sure I will miss them being there.

 

[vamassey1]

I don't know how I missed this.

Great update. You saw two of the shows I have yet to catch. Lunch sounded great, definitely something to put on my list for someday. Catching Remy made it even better.

Love the Test Track photo. And the shirt. My DH needs this shirt.

 

[mom2mek]

Sounds like a great day at Epcot. I love how you were able to go at your own pace and take in everything! Can you tell I am excited about our adult only trip? With the kids I just feel like I am trying to fit in things for everyone. Can't wait to just worry about two people! Though I am sure I will miss them being there.

Thanks! Yes, adult trips are definitely ones of a different color!! Trips with kids are fabulous, don't get me wrong, but so are trips with husbands, trips with girlfriends, and trips with Moms!! It's Disney and yet no matter when you are there or who you are with, you have a great time!

Have fun!!!

I don't know how I missed this.

Great update. You saw two of the shows I have yet to catch. Lunch sounded great, definitely something to put on my list for someday. Catching Remy made it even better.

Love the Test Track photo. And the shirt. My DH needs this shirt.

That photo cracks me up! It's too funny!! I was happy to catch those two shows as well - we had never seen them (in their entirety) either!

Sara

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Epcot is my FAVORITE!

How fun is it to just roam around the World Showcase?! There is so much to look at and take in! That school bread looks so delicious. We were able to try it on our 2009 trip and loved it!

Chefs sounds delicious! And seeing Remy makes it all that much better. Your sandwich looks heavenly! I'll have to add that restaurant to our "have to try it" list!


That TT pic is so cute! You look like you and mom are having a great time.

 

[mom2mek]

Epcot is my FAVORITE!

How fun is it to just roam around the World Showcase?! There is so much to look at and take in! That school bread looks so delicious. We were able to try it on our 2009 trip and loved it!

Chefs sounds delicious! And seeing Remy makes it all that much better. Your sandwich looks heavenly! I'll have to add that restaurant to our "have to try it" list!


That TT pic is so cute! You look like you and mom are having a great time.

Thanks Missy! The World Showcase is so beautiful, isn't it? I still, even after all our trips, don't feel like I have really had the kind of time in the WS as I would like! Each trip I leave with a feeling of "wish I had seen more"! Guess that's why we keep going back, huh?

School bread and Chefs were delicious! Looking forward to getting back!

Sara