The Tenth Honeymoon is the Best One of Them All! - May '14 TR - COMPLETED 4/19

[MEK]

I've always thought it was cool that you can see so many great landmarks from CSR, which has never really made sense to me but perhaps I should look more closely on the map!

Dinner looks yummy! I have never eaten at the Maya Grill so I'll have to add that to the bucket list!

Great pix of the resort! I'll be staying at VWL for 2 days during the main pool closure - boo! With the DVC pool hopping privileges I might use it as an opportunity to visit the CSR pool.

 

[nilla]

Wow what a beautiful resort! It is amazing all the landmarks you can see from there.

Just reading about your day makes me tired I cannot imagine how you all felt!

We were DONE! Fortunately, we're not in a huge rush tomorrow. Lots of time to sleep!

CSR is so pretty! I never knew that you could see all of that from there. Is it near CBR-like Epcot area?

Maya Grill sounds great. It's nice to have a good option for a TS at the resort.

Yes, it's very close to CBR, AK, Epcot, and HS. Great location, IMO.

It's definitely convenient! I can't believe last year was the first we hit it.

Jon, I'd be exhausted after a day like that too.

We've only done Maya Grill for breakfast years ago, but I have a very good friend who goes out of her way to eat at Maya for dinner every trip.

Your pictures of CSR just go to show why we love it so much...it truly is beautiful. Thank you for sharing all those terrific photos.

No problem! There are more CSR photos on the way

Wow, beautiful pics! I like the different perspectives this year too. Who knew you could see all those landmarks from there?

Your meal sounded great. Dylan's enchiladas in particular looked great. Too bad he didn't like them.

Hope you got to sleep nice and early after a day like that!

I have a quick gorilla story for you. We were at the Milwaukee County Zoo last week. The male gorilla was in his outside summer enclosure and at first was sitting there eating (yes, eating) a cardboard box. He'd put the huge piece in his mouth and then bite off a smaller piece and chew it up. He got bored with that after a minute and walked around the corner, peeked at his audience, and then suddenly ran by the window shaking his arms at everyone then went back to eating his box. It was awesome and hilarious. Thought you'd appreciate it!

Gorillas are the best! I would've loved to have seen that. Cardboard boxes make you do terrible things.

man, I wish in one of these updates you would include some photos of Coranado Springs ... you keep talking about the place but I have no idea what it looks like

Seriously though - it looks lovely and has quite a variety too it ... plus very cool that you can see Tower of Terror AND Everest from it

Um, sounds like those kids need some boundaries .... and you know if they wound up getting hurt sliding improperly they wouldn't admit it was their fault

The Maya Grill sounds really nice ... you don't see reviews of it here much on the DIS but definitely seems like a place we would like!

And silly, don't you know there already is water in beer? no need to get a separate water. I mean, unless you want something that tastes like water ... though in that case you might as well just get a Coors

Coors Light no good! I'll take dehydration instead.

On that topic, I read a Coca-Cola box once that claimed that, since it has water in it, Coke helps hydrate you. Technically, maybe, but...

Those kids were nuts!

Or a Keystone Light as all the people in Dubuque seem to favor.

I've had that. Also no good!

I've always thought it was cool that you can see so many great landmarks from CSR, which has never really made sense to me but perhaps I should look more closely on the map!

Dinner looks yummy! I have never eaten at the Maya Grill so I'll have to add that to the bucket list!

Great pix of the resort! I'll be staying at VWL for 2 days during the main pool closure - boo! With the DVC pool hopping privileges I might use it as an opportunity to visit the CSR pool.

Do it! The pool at CSR is wonderful. Plus, you get to walk around CSR

Day 6 starts, right now!

 

[nilla]

 

[nilla]

It came to my attention in a dream one night that there are far too few emoticons in this Trip Report. Sure, I do use the typical ones ),,), but what about all the others? There are literally DOZENS of them on the comment entry page, laughing at me, taunting me. Worse yet, those aren't even the half of them. Or the quarter of them. There are MANY more.

To make up for this obvious deficiency, I have decided to write the rest of the Trip Report using as many emoticons as possible. In fact, I will even take it one step further, and use them in place of words in most cases. So here goes.

As you recall from last night, we were so tired we almost . Fortunately, that means I woke up not tired, but the rest of the family wanted to sleep more. I over the the sink area, closed the cabana doors, and uploaded the photos.

In the meantime, I put on Netflix to try to find a good . No, no....I'm not eating , I'm looking for a to watch. Unfortunately, I have to watch the with headphones, because the and dialogue would probably wake the others. That would not make them . In fact, it would probably make them quite . And then I'd feel . Ah, what kind of do I think I am? Who am I kidding? I'd probably be just as . After all, I've for them to get up just about every morning.

They wake up at a reasonable time, and I head down to El Centro to get the breakfast. I the Southern Sweet Tea now, and I'm it as I take my first photo.



I've said it MANY times before - I this walk in the morning! CSR makes me so .

I return to the room, where everyone else is getting ready. At this point, I should probably abandon my little emoticon endeavor, because you're all probably right now, and some of you may even be getting a from it. After all, the whole emoticon thing was to begin with, and a bit to boot.

Besides, the DisBoards say I can't have more than 25 images per post, and the emoticons count. I had to cut about ten out of this post! No fun!

Ok, we're done with that. Off to Station 4!

 

[nilla]

Epcot opened at 9:00, and it's a little after that right now, but I'm not . Oops, sorry. I'm not worried. We have plenty of time. Thanks to FastPass+, as long as we get to Spaceship Earth by 10:05, we're golden!

So while we wait, how about this shot again?



The bus arrives, and on we go. You can tell everyone is well-rested this morning, because no one is fighting.





We arrive, we ride.





I know what you're thinking. Why on God's green Earth would we get FPs for Spaceship Earth? Well, you're thinking that only if you haven't dealt with booking FP+ for Epcot yet. Due the the tiered system and the fact that Epcot doesn't have a lot of attractions with typically long lines, here are what our FPs look like for today:

9:05 - Spaceship Earth
10:15 - Mission: Space
11:25 - Soarin'

In retrospect, there was somewhat of a line for SE at this time, so having FPs for it was nice. Afterwards, we took some time to play around underneath it, instead of bolting to our next attraction.





The last one was the bone placement game (I forget the name), which Emily and I played. That one is a lot of fun. The driving one is, too. In fact, just about everything in here is fun, so everyone should take some time to slow down and check it out, if they don't already.

Another great thing about FP+ is that our time spent in SE brought us right to the start time of our next FPs, so we can head right over to Mission: Space.



We're all about the Orange Team anymore. I haven't been on Green Team in several years, and have no desire to. Of course, I was probably ready to fall over when I took this photo:



But that's the fun of it, isn't it? As you can tell from this shot, we took some time to play in M:E, too. We almost never play that really big mutli-player game (again, I forget the name), but we do play this one (whose name I also forget). Emily takes the opportunity to send one of those wacky postcards to her friend.

Afterwards, they join Dylan in playing the previosuly mentioned, completely anonymous (to me) game.

 

[nilla]

It's almost 11:00 now, and will be by the time we get to Sunshine Seasons. SS is also one of our favorite quick service joints at WDW, and this time was no exception. I got the Spicy Curry Shrimp:



Hot, but absolutely fantastic! This place is a hit. Kristin got her usual, the Mongolian Beef:



Dylan likes this place because he can get turkey and mayo. And Monterey Jack, but that's not the hook for him.



I usually get a sandwich, too, but went with the Asian today. I don't regret my choice, though I may later. Is there an emoticon for foreshadowing? Let's see - :foreshadowing:. Ok, maybe not.

Anyway, Emily got the roast chicken:



All of our meals were exceptional (I thought of some new synonyms for "great", if you haven't noticed), and now it's time for dessert. Oh my, look:



From left to right: Chocolate mousse cake (Dylan), Tiramisu (me), Key Lime Tart (Kristin). Emily got the Rice Krispies treat:



We all loved them. What a great place! Oops, I mean what a spectacular place!

 

[nilla]

Our luck and/or timing was positive again, as it's now time for our 11:25 FPs for Soarin'!

I can't imagine waiting in standy for this. From checkin to exit, we spent an hour with this ride. With FPs. Of course, we did wait one ride to get row 1B (front and center), but that only set up back about 10-15 minutes. This ride is a commitment!

No photos of Soarin', but the queue's not particularly exciting, until you reach the ride video.

It's about 12:30 now, and we've used up all three of our FP+ selections. So it's outside to Innoventions to get another! There is an FP+ kiosk outside of Innoventions, but I skip that one because there is a line. Besides, there's never anyone at the one in Innoventions.

Our hearts are set on Test Track FPs, and we can get them for 4:50. Done.

Back to the Land, and on the way, I notice that waiting in the line at the FP+ kiosk outside would've probably been no longer than going inside. Oh, well. I got a little more exercise.

Inside, we watch "Humans Suck" (Circle of Life), and then it's onto Living with the Land. This ride is a nice little treasure, IMO. Very interesting. No , but you can't have it all.

Lots of photos on this one:















Gators!



I don't really get what their purpose here is. Anyway, we're not done!





Mickey!



Cucumber!



Something!



That ride down, I'd say we're officially done with The Land for today. Possibly for the vacation. Who can say? We don't really care if we hit Soarin' again, though it is an amazing ride, once you're on it.

 

[nilla]

As we head out, I realize that the hot air balloons over Sunshine Seasons each represent a different season:



How did I not notice that before? SS is more crowded now than before, but still not horrible:



May crowds!

Outside, it's over to Figment, but a 20 minute wait puts it of out of her depth, and out of the question. 20 minutes is our cutoff for a lot of rides, but we have even less patience for Figment. Fun ride, but you can avoid waiting at most times.

Instead, we make our way to World Showcase, with a pit stop along the way:



And a fountain pic:



And a Thumbs up shot:



And now, just the ball:



Oh, and Kristin wants a hat. For real this time. This is where we SHOULD be able to find one:



I know, I said she was looking there for a hat on Day four. And maybe she was. But she got one today.



We refer to it as her "Meow Meow Hat". If you watch Big Brother, you'll probably know why. She LOVES it. Especially since her scalp was burning without it. The kids got sugar:



I know, we deserve whatever comes of it. Oh, back to Mouse Gear - they had a Frozen item!



It doesn't fit anyone's iPod, though, so we leave it on the hanger.

 

[nilla]

As anyone who has been to Epcot knows, the journey to World Showcase is as fun as World Showcase itself. Well, without the entertainment, food, and beer. Or the rides. Anyway...







Couples shot!



Odyssey shot!



We took this because, while walking that way, we overheard a woman tell someone on the other end of the phone to come meet her at Odyssey. Who knows what Odyssey is? Who could find it, unless they were right in front of it? I'm glad I'm not the one getting those directions!

(update: apparently, Odyssey WAS a restaurant, and they actually opened it this year to air World Cup soccer game. What?)

We've reached World Showcase, and we have a very clear agenda. This girl...



...wants to meet the bear featured at this store...



...which will surely make her feel like this:



But more of that in the next update!


[POST=51882150](next update)[/POST]

 

[TheMaxRebo]

your food at SS looks great! We tend to go to The World during F&WF season so that is where we get our sustenance when going to EPCOT - but next trip is not during F&WF so an unintended benefit of that is we can hit up SS!

Is it a big deal to ask them to let you wait to ride first row on Soarn'? At what point to you ask? Definitely think it is worth waiting a little extra for that

Living with the Land is one of our favorites! So much cool stuff to see and it is a relaxing boat ride to boot! And one in which I have never heard of a passengers fingers getting cut off - unlike what just happened on Pirates

Love the photos! also love Kristin's hat!

 

[Clarf]

Okay, I just had to go Google the Pirate's thing. Crazy! At least the guy admitted it was his fault.

Living with the land looks like such a cool ride. I can't wait to ride it in September. We've only ever seen it from the Garden Grill restaurant. I also can't wait to ride Soarin'. We may ask for row B-1 per your recommendation!

Sunshine Seasons is great! We love it there too. And I love Kristin's hat!

 

[KatMark]

We enjoy Sunshine Seasons (I wouldn't say we "love" it), but we normally have ADR's at Epcot and dont' get there very often.

I love asking for front row on Soarin'. I'd say 95% of the time they are quite accomodating.

Did you know that those balloons used to go UP AND DOWN?

Odyssey used to serve the usual...burgers, hot dogs, etc. They used to have a show in there as well with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale. It is where our youngest son fell in love with Minnie Mouse. After the show, they'd come around and do autographs and photos.

Beautiful pictures; I especially like the "couple" one.

I love Kristen's hat!

 

[mirage0306]

I had no idea about those balloons inside the Land, either. Neat.

Your post about going over to meet Duffy reminds me I need to check if he ever makes an appearance on the west coast. My 8 yo also adores Duffy and while he's often meh about characters, would probably flip to meet him.

Yay Soarin, yay Spaceship Earth, yay Sunshine Seasons! But I have to say boo to Mission Space. It is one of my least favorite rides in all of the parks. I thought I was ok with pretty much everything, but I was really close to using the barf bag in there. :insert embarrassed emoticon

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Your post about going over to meet Duffy reminds me I need to check if he ever makes an appearance on the west coast. My 8 yo also adores Duffy and while he's often meh about characters, would probably flip to meet him.

Sorry to hi-jack the thread but I had just recently read in someone Disneyland TR that did a meet with Duffy there ... BUT they were informed that he was leaving soon. Not sure of exact timing but just to give you a head sup

 

[nilla]

your food at SS looks great! We tend to go to The World during F&WF season so that is where we get our sustenance when going to EPCOT - but next trip is not during F&WF so an unintended benefit of that is we can hit up SS!

Is it a big deal to ask them to let you wait to ride first row on Soarn'? At what point to you ask? Definitely think it is worth waiting a little extra for that

Living with the Land is one of our favorites! So much cool stuff to see and it is a relaxing boat ride to boot! And one in which I have never heard of a passengers fingers getting cut off - unlike what just happened on Pirates

Love the photos! also love Kristin's hat!

It's not a big deal at Soarin' at all, at least when we go. They just have you stand to the side. Well worth it!

Have you ever taken the tour at the Land? We'd love to, but haven't. When the kids get older.

Didn't hear about pirates. Oh no, that's horrible!

Okay, I just had to go Google the Pirate's thing. Crazy! At least the guy admitted it was his fault.

Living with the land looks like such a cool ride. I can't wait to ride it in September. We've only ever seen it from the Garden Grill restaurant. I also can't wait to ride Soarin'. We may ask for row B-1 per your recommendation!

Sunshine Seasons is great! We love it there too. And I love Kristin's hat!

How was Garden Grill? We've always wondered about it, but have never been there.

Kristin says, "thank you!" She loves the hat, too. It's got Mickeys around the band, btw

We enjoy Sunshine Seasons (I wouldn't say we "love" it), but we normally have ADR's at Epcot and dont' get there very often.

I love asking for front row on Soarin'. I'd say 95% of the time they are quite accomodating.

Did you know that those balloons used to go UP AND DOWN?

Odyssey used to serve the usual...burgers, hot dogs, etc. They used to have a show in there as well with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale. It is where our youngest son fell in love with Minnie Mouse. After the show, they'd come around and do autographs and photos.

Beautiful pictures; I especially like the "couple" one.

I love Kristen's hat!

I did not know about the balloons! I'd love to see that.

I'd like to see the inside of Odyssey, for no other reason than to just see it.

Kristin says, "thank you!" to you as well!

I had no idea about those balloons inside the Land, either. Neat.

Your post about going over to meet Duffy reminds me I need to check if he ever makes an appearance on the west coast. My 8 yo also adores Duffy and while he's often meh about characters, would probably flip to meet him.

Yay Soarin, yay Spaceship Earth, yay Sunshine Seasons! But I have to say boo to Mission Space. It is one of my least favorite rides in all of the parks. I thought I was ok with pretty much everything, but I was really close to using the barf bag in there. :insert embarrassed emoticon

Duffy is a great character! Always very personable, and never a big line. We got there really early and were first

I can handle Mission Space because you can't see outside it. If you could, I might not ride!

Sorry to hi-jack the thread but I had just recently read in someone Disneyland TR that did a meet with Duffy there ... BUT they were informed that he was leaving soon. Not sure of exact timing but just to give you a head sup

We were on the lookout for Shellie Mae ("girl Duffy"), but she is not in the states yet. Unfortunately. Here's all about her:

http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/ShellieMay_the_Disney_Bear

Now, more updates!

 

[nilla]

Epcot's World Showcase would like to cordially welcome Duffy!



As would we!

Emily's pretty nutty about Duffy these days, and she's really excited to meet him again. Here he is!





He hearts her, too:



And signs:



Emily's doing the autograph picture frame things these year that Kristin saw somewhere online.

More hugs:



And a salute:



Wow, you get a lot of time with Duffy! Dylan opts out of the photo (booo!), and out we go. To the Duffy store!

 

[nilla]

While Kristin and Emily look at shirts for Em, I head out back for some photos.



If we somehow extend this trip a week, I can use this next one for Day 19:



Now, around World Showcase we go:

United Kingdom
Population: approximately 64,000,000.
Fun fact: Between 2004 and 2008 the UK produced 7% of the world's scientific research papers and had an 8% share of scientific citations, the third and second highest in the world (after the United States and China, and the United States, respectively).



France
Population: approximately 66,000,000.
Fun fact: As of 2012, 65 French people have been awarded a Nobel Prize and 11 have received the Fields Medal.



Morocco
Population: approximately 33,000,000.
Fun fact: French is widely used in governmental institutions, media, mid-size and large companies, international commerce with French-speaking countries, and often in international diplomacy in Morocco. French is taught as an obligatory language at all schools.



Japan
Population: approximately 126,000,000.
Fun fact: Japan leads the world in robotics production and use, possessing more than half (402,200 of 742,500) of the world's industrial robots.



United States of America
Population: approximately 318,000,000
Fun fact: Um, what? HAS WALT DISNEY WORLD. What else do you need?



Italy
Population: approximately 60,000,000
Fun fact: Italy has a pavilion at Epcot.



Germany
Population: approximately 80,000,000
Fun fact: The Germany pavilion at Epcot has a really good grapefruit beer.



China
Population: A lot. Seriously.
Fun fact: THe China pavilion at Epcot has a crane behind it.



Norway (a.k.a, "Land of the Trolls")
Population: approximately 5,000,000 humans, and an unknown but large population of trolls
Fun fact: In case you haven't heard, Norway has trolls.



Swing back over:

Canada
Population: approximately 35,000,000
Fun fact: You can barely see the Canada pavilion at Epcot in this photo. Also, we have another possible Day 18 photo header.



Mexico
Population: approximately 35,000,000
Fun fact: The Mexico pavilion at Epcot inexplicably has the queue from the Haunted Mansion in front of it.



(All non-ridiculous facts courtesy of wikipedia, which is, of course, courtesy of wherever they came from originally)

One more World Showcase photo, and then, we're moving on!

 

[nilla]

We went past Mexico to Norway, checking out what was the Viking history exhibit. Now, it's Frozen stuff.











Ok, it's still about history, but they tie Frozen in. I expect we'll see a lot of this in the next year.

Outside, the Maelstrom has some refurb goin' on at the cliff part:



But hey, it's open! In we go...and it goes down. We wait it out. For a long time. Nothing. That's it. FPs would've been nice.

Alright, let's explore:



Everyone on Earth gets this next one:



Stupid eBay!



One more photo, and it's on to Germany!



After last night's mega-update, I'm tired...but I'll leave you with this:




(to be consumed! um, I mean, continued!)

[POST=51895654](next update)[/POST]

 

[Clarf]

How was Garden Grill? We've always wondered about it, but have never been there.

Kristin says, "thank you!" She loves the hat, too. It's got Mickeys around the band, btw

Garden Grill is delicious! It's served family style, and you get some sort of beef (I don't eat that), turkey and stuffing, and their fresh fish of the day. It's all you can eat, and what you don't eat gets composted or somehow recycled, and the veggies they serve come from the food you see in the LIving with the Land ride! Also, the restaurant spins and it's a character meal. Our kids requested it again for this year.

I think I might have to get one of those hats.

As for your updates, Love all the close ups of WS from across the lake/lagoon. Cool perspective! We've never met Duffy. I just can't get on board with the whole thing, but if our kids want to see him this year, of course we will let them! He is cute!

 

[KatMark]

Duffy. I still haven't figured that out (except the Japanese love it and they brought it here). But Emily looks very happy to see him and that is all that counts.

Beautiful pictures of all of the countries; love that you added those interesting tidbits.

Is that the grapefruit beer?