bajanswife
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2004
- Messages
- 1,084
Day 4: Oct 15 Epcot
We hadnt planned on getting up early today, but boy did we sleep in! Didnt make it to Epcot til almost noon! We walked straight through to WS, having ascertained that the others werent that interested in FW for the most part (and neither was I since Id done it all before, except for MS and TT, and I could live without those til next time!). However, around 3 p.m. we did scoot back over to the Living Seas and HISTA.
We went to the right at WS, since the food we wanted for lunch was in the Canada and Greece booths cheddar cheese soup and gyros and shrimp! I tried the ice wine too, but too sweet for me. I wont describe our day by country, because we didnt do much except walk into shops and sample food. I wanted to poke around the buildings more, and see more of the entertainment, but we had so little time, and D and K seemed to want to go into every store! This part I was disappointed in but, we had decided to gear the trip towards them, so I couldnt really complain. And I guess I could have wandered off and done my own thing (and did occasionally), but the point of the trip was to have fun together, and that seemed more important at the time. Epcot will be there when I bring the kids in a few years, and I can tell you that well be avoiding the stores like mad then (with just a few exceptions, like the toy store in England cute).
Some tidbits: the film in France made us all want to jump on a plane and go there, even me, and Ive been to France before. And the patisserie . to die for! I wanted to try everything of course, but had to choose just one L. The store in Japan is lovely, but we didnt actually buy anything I was saving money and suitcase space for things I really needed LOL. We did get to see the Chinese acrobats amazing!
The girls had various sausages in Germany and enjoyed them me, I just had the yummy apple strudel, having eaten crepes au fromage et jambon (ham and cheese) in France and beef in Australia! I was a little disappointed in the strawberry margarita in Mexico Ive had better. I didnt try the fiesta one (thats usually raved about) cause I wasnt a big fan of the other flavours kiwi and I cant remember what else. And funnily enough, although the lamb in New Zealand came highly recommended, I was disappointed because it seemed tough to me. I couldnt cut it at all with the plastic knife and fork, but even when I picked it up in my fingers to eat it, it was hard to bite. I ended up throwing half of it away.
In general, although we liked the concept of the F & W festival, it didnt quite live up to our expectations. The food wasnt always served as hot as it should be, the prices were sometimes too high for the little bit you got, and some items were just ordinary (like my chicken quesadilla in Mexico) or not edible (like my NZ lamb). The wines were good though the ones I tried anyway. In the end my friends had their dinner from the restaurant in Germany (the sausages) instead of from the booths because it was better value for money, and was known to be good (M has had that food before). I must say, though, M had the lemon chicken on yellow rice from the Morocco booth, and for $2.75 it was great value for money, and very tasty too. I know the point of the festival isnt to get a good deal, its to try new things so Id say save your money for the things that you consider a real treat, or to sample things you wouldnt want to pay the price of a whole meal for in a restaurant (in case you didnt like it). I didnt mind the wine prices - I was prepared to pay a few dollars for each glass.
We were in Japan just before Illuminations, and decided to watch it from a ledge in front of one of the pretty Japanese pavilions. It wasnt close to the railing at all, but we saw well enough (we didnt need a perfect view). It had turned really chilly, and we Bajans (Barbadians) arent accustomed to that, so no way were we standing around in a perfect viewing spot for any length of time! We did have on our sweaters, but D was particularly cold. I wasnt happy that I had to stand in a line for 20 min just to get a cappuccino (all the cold people had the same idea I guess!), and I actually had to watch the first 5 mins of Illuminations from the line and on the walk back from Italy to Japan. Never mind Ive seen it before. When I got back to where the girls were, I found they had funnel cake perfect to eat with my coffee! We took our time exiting the park after Illuminations didnt want to fight the crowds. I had bought a plate from the Spain booth (Valencian pottery very pretty) for D and K that they were admiring (they just moved into a new apt. together and it was a housewarming gift), and we collected it without any hassle. We went straight home from the park and crashed out!
Day 5: Oct 16 shopping day
We went to the Belz factory outlet malls on I-Drive and the Altamonte Mall. I dont know how I got everything into my suitcases, but I almost had to sit on it to close it!
Day 6: Oct 17 Bye bye Disney and Orlando (sniff sniff)
My plane left at 1.45 p.m., and in the morning we just walked to the nearby park and fed the ducks. D & K were going to finish up their shopping after dropping me at the airport (they were leaving the next day). My big suitcase was 15 pounds overweight, so I had to spend 10 minutes redistributing my stuff at the check-in counter (luckily there wasnt much of a line behind me) but I got it done and saved $100 in overweight charges (dont ask me how I got so much stuffed into the small case)! The flights home were uneventful.
Summary and conclusion
Wonderful, fun trip! The parks were a little crowded, but we found it manageable. However, we were not at MK during a regular day so we couldnt judge what it was truly like even though we were there from 4 p.m. when the park was regularly open, it was an early-closing day (for MNSSHP), so I suspect that a lot of people who didnt have tickets for that event would not have chosen to go to MK that day (since they would not have had any fireworks to see or night-time parade), or would have left early to hop to another park. AK and Epcot were fine, although you could tell the crowd was large. Supper time at Epcot was more difficult for F & W longer lines. But the lines moved fast enough (except that darned coffee line!).
I did come to one conclusion though Im not sure I want to bring the kids in December as I thought I might. When a cold spell comes through after a warm day, its trickier to dress for (especially if theres wind). We arent accustomed to it and dont have warm clothes. It makes wandering around outside and waiting for parades and fireworks less pleasant, and no way would I be going near any pool in December! I thought October was a lovely time generally though warm during the day without being too hot, and pleasantly cool at night, with the exception of that one chilly night in the 50s (which to most people would have been no big deal either).
All my DIS research really paid off I think we accomplished a lot more than we would have if wed all been clueless, and even M learned some stuff from me (and shes been many times). We would never have known the tea existed (and it was a real highlight), and we would certainly never have decided to stay 1 great night at AKL if it hadnt been raved about here! Thanks everyone!
We hadnt planned on getting up early today, but boy did we sleep in! Didnt make it to Epcot til almost noon! We walked straight through to WS, having ascertained that the others werent that interested in FW for the most part (and neither was I since Id done it all before, except for MS and TT, and I could live without those til next time!). However, around 3 p.m. we did scoot back over to the Living Seas and HISTA.
We went to the right at WS, since the food we wanted for lunch was in the Canada and Greece booths cheddar cheese soup and gyros and shrimp! I tried the ice wine too, but too sweet for me. I wont describe our day by country, because we didnt do much except walk into shops and sample food. I wanted to poke around the buildings more, and see more of the entertainment, but we had so little time, and D and K seemed to want to go into every store! This part I was disappointed in but, we had decided to gear the trip towards them, so I couldnt really complain. And I guess I could have wandered off and done my own thing (and did occasionally), but the point of the trip was to have fun together, and that seemed more important at the time. Epcot will be there when I bring the kids in a few years, and I can tell you that well be avoiding the stores like mad then (with just a few exceptions, like the toy store in England cute).
Some tidbits: the film in France made us all want to jump on a plane and go there, even me, and Ive been to France before. And the patisserie . to die for! I wanted to try everything of course, but had to choose just one L. The store in Japan is lovely, but we didnt actually buy anything I was saving money and suitcase space for things I really needed LOL. We did get to see the Chinese acrobats amazing!
The girls had various sausages in Germany and enjoyed them me, I just had the yummy apple strudel, having eaten crepes au fromage et jambon (ham and cheese) in France and beef in Australia! I was a little disappointed in the strawberry margarita in Mexico Ive had better. I didnt try the fiesta one (thats usually raved about) cause I wasnt a big fan of the other flavours kiwi and I cant remember what else. And funnily enough, although the lamb in New Zealand came highly recommended, I was disappointed because it seemed tough to me. I couldnt cut it at all with the plastic knife and fork, but even when I picked it up in my fingers to eat it, it was hard to bite. I ended up throwing half of it away.
In general, although we liked the concept of the F & W festival, it didnt quite live up to our expectations. The food wasnt always served as hot as it should be, the prices were sometimes too high for the little bit you got, and some items were just ordinary (like my chicken quesadilla in Mexico) or not edible (like my NZ lamb). The wines were good though the ones I tried anyway. In the end my friends had their dinner from the restaurant in Germany (the sausages) instead of from the booths because it was better value for money, and was known to be good (M has had that food before). I must say, though, M had the lemon chicken on yellow rice from the Morocco booth, and for $2.75 it was great value for money, and very tasty too. I know the point of the festival isnt to get a good deal, its to try new things so Id say save your money for the things that you consider a real treat, or to sample things you wouldnt want to pay the price of a whole meal for in a restaurant (in case you didnt like it). I didnt mind the wine prices - I was prepared to pay a few dollars for each glass.
We were in Japan just before Illuminations, and decided to watch it from a ledge in front of one of the pretty Japanese pavilions. It wasnt close to the railing at all, but we saw well enough (we didnt need a perfect view). It had turned really chilly, and we Bajans (Barbadians) arent accustomed to that, so no way were we standing around in a perfect viewing spot for any length of time! We did have on our sweaters, but D was particularly cold. I wasnt happy that I had to stand in a line for 20 min just to get a cappuccino (all the cold people had the same idea I guess!), and I actually had to watch the first 5 mins of Illuminations from the line and on the walk back from Italy to Japan. Never mind Ive seen it before. When I got back to where the girls were, I found they had funnel cake perfect to eat with my coffee! We took our time exiting the park after Illuminations didnt want to fight the crowds. I had bought a plate from the Spain booth (Valencian pottery very pretty) for D and K that they were admiring (they just moved into a new apt. together and it was a housewarming gift), and we collected it without any hassle. We went straight home from the park and crashed out!
Day 5: Oct 16 shopping day
We went to the Belz factory outlet malls on I-Drive and the Altamonte Mall. I dont know how I got everything into my suitcases, but I almost had to sit on it to close it!
Day 6: Oct 17 Bye bye Disney and Orlando (sniff sniff)
My plane left at 1.45 p.m., and in the morning we just walked to the nearby park and fed the ducks. D & K were going to finish up their shopping after dropping me at the airport (they were leaving the next day). My big suitcase was 15 pounds overweight, so I had to spend 10 minutes redistributing my stuff at the check-in counter (luckily there wasnt much of a line behind me) but I got it done and saved $100 in overweight charges (dont ask me how I got so much stuffed into the small case)! The flights home were uneventful.
Summary and conclusion
Wonderful, fun trip! The parks were a little crowded, but we found it manageable. However, we were not at MK during a regular day so we couldnt judge what it was truly like even though we were there from 4 p.m. when the park was regularly open, it was an early-closing day (for MNSSHP), so I suspect that a lot of people who didnt have tickets for that event would not have chosen to go to MK that day (since they would not have had any fireworks to see or night-time parade), or would have left early to hop to another park. AK and Epcot were fine, although you could tell the crowd was large. Supper time at Epcot was more difficult for F & W longer lines. But the lines moved fast enough (except that darned coffee line!).
I did come to one conclusion though Im not sure I want to bring the kids in December as I thought I might. When a cold spell comes through after a warm day, its trickier to dress for (especially if theres wind). We arent accustomed to it and dont have warm clothes. It makes wandering around outside and waiting for parades and fireworks less pleasant, and no way would I be going near any pool in December! I thought October was a lovely time generally though warm during the day without being too hot, and pleasantly cool at night, with the exception of that one chilly night in the 50s (which to most people would have been no big deal either).
All my DIS research really paid off I think we accomplished a lot more than we would have if wed all been clueless, and even M learned some stuff from me (and shes been many times). We would never have known the tea existed (and it was a real highlight), and we would certainly never have decided to stay 1 great night at AKL if it hadnt been raved about here! Thanks everyone!
