7 AM Extra Magic Hours? We're in!...NEW 12/27 p. 31

[wdwgirl03]

Tuesday, April 10, 2012 cont'd (part 2)...Sorcerer Mickey, Dancing Hippos and Fairies

Now that we had accomplished our goal of riding Soarin and Test Track, it was time to take in some of the sights of the Flower and Garden Festival! As I've said before, in addition to the nice weather, spring is a great time to go because of the festival. It really makes for a whole new experience at Epcot and I always love seeing the different flowers and bright colors.

Because we had our "private entrance" to Epcot, we hadn't been to the front of the park yet! I really wanted to see the main entrance display with Sorcerer Mickey. It didn't disappoint!

Gotta love seeing the monorail gliding by!

Dad and I also had a photopass picture taken. Here you can get a better idea of what the whole display looked like.

My attempt at being artistic...

As usual the display was amazing but we had our Soarin fastpasses to use so we headed back over toward the Land.

After our 2nd flight to California we strolled around some more of the Future World gardens/displays. There's so much to take in!

Before making our way back toward World Showcase, we had to stop at my favorite display: the fairy garden!

This whole area is just so cute. They have topiaries of all the fairies from the Disney fairy movies and the area around them is designed so it matches the color and talent of the fairy. (The first movie explains this whole concept. Once a fairy is born, its talent is decided-like water, light, or tinker fairies. Can you guess which kind of fairy Tinkerbell is? )

Here's Iridessa, the light fairy (notice the rainbow of flowers!)

Rosetta, the garden fairy.

Here's a better view of the rainbow near Iridessa.

A new addition to Pixie Hollow this year was the Winter Woods, which was kind of a promotion for the new Tinkerbell movie that comes out later this year. Not gonna lie, I've seen all of the fairy movies (and own them!) so I'll probably be adding this one to the collection too! They may be kids' movies, but really, the animation is part of what makes them so appealing. And really, who doesn't love a Disney movie? Anyway...as you can see, the Winter Woods had all sorts of white flowers and plants.

Tink and the new fairy from the movie (but I can't remember the name right now).

Another one of the fairies. This is Fawn and she's an animal fair. They had her in a forest setting.

Finally, Silvermist. Can you guess her talent? Hint: it might have something to do with the little waterfall...

I definitely enjoyed seeing the fairy garden again. Hopefully it'll be part of the festival for years to come.

One last picture before we leave Future World. The floating plants are so cool.

up next: Making our way around the world

 

[dawnbu40]

I love the fairy topiaries! So cute! And you aren't the only adult who enjoys the Tinkerbell movies....Caitlin and I love them

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Beautiful topiary pics

 

[Caretames1]

How beautiful Epcot is! I do hope someday I can go during the festival.

Kadence and I are just in awe of all the topiaries! What amazing landscape artists that make all the designs and where everything looks so prefect!

 

[MHTeacher]

I think Pixie Hollow is a cute area of the F&GF!

I think Sorcerer Mickey in front of Epcot, is my favorite of the entrance designs I've seen over the years!

 

[Bridora]

I love all your pictures! I really miss going during Flower & Garden Festival.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Caught up finally! What is the "secret" with Donald Duck??? I'm so curious!

Beautiful pictures from the F&GF - I wish we were returning during those dates in 2013!

 

[marDgreen88]

The F&G displays are just too pretty. It really does make Epcot look different! So beautiful.

I've never seen any of the Fairy movies but I feel like I should. I just always wondered why Tink seemed so different (at least in the commercials I've seen) but maybe I'm getting the wrong impression.

The displays are beautiful though! That floating water plants are just gorgeous.

 

[RachelNinja]

I wish that Howard and I had waited to get a pic in front of the Sorcerer Mickey display. Oh man, I'm regretting it now because it was definitely our favorite! It was just SO crowded since we got there later in the day.

I love just how much you know about the fairies!

 

[PolyPrincess19]

Count me in for this TR!!

F&G is such a great time to visit Epcot. I agree whole heartedly. Everything is so beautiful and full of color! I was there last month and I just love all the topiaries

I did notice that fetting FP for TSMM in the morning is a lot easier now. It doesn't feel like everyone is being herded like cattle down to Pixar Place.

That cheesecake brownie looks sooooooo good! I love cheesecake so that looks right up my alley! Can't wait to read more!!

 

[Nermel9]

Your pictures of the F&G pictures are so beautiful! I loved the fairy section, it was probably my favorite! Sorcerer Mickey was pretty cool too, I love Fantasia!

 

[Angies1274]

LOVE the Flower and Garden Festival!! It's definitely one of the reasons we like to visit in April so much. The Pixie Hollow section is so cute!! You got some really great pictures!! I love the rainbow of flowers near Iridessa.

 

[TanzUnited99]

Hi Sarah am catching up with your TR and WOW the view from your room is breathtaking!! I can imagine it must have been great waking up to that every morning

Love all the F&G pics...they look great.

Wow at leaving your room at 6.00am...only at Disney World right? It sure is advantageous especially considering how much you had accomplished by 10.00!

Yay on getting to ride the new Dumbo! Am sad at the thought of Snow White being destroyed like Mickeys house

Love Animal Kingdom as well...it's such a great park. Great parade pics and that's cool that you were in the parade previously. The safari pics are making me want to go on one

Okay so you got a gorgeous view every morning and then got to see Illuminations every night as well...amazing!!

Great pic with Piglet and yay on having an unplanned DIS meet! It must have been fun to do the drawing class together.

Yay Soarin...love that ride and it sure is addictive! Love the pics from the Character Spot.

Am all caught up and looking forward to reading more.

 

[wdwgirl03]

I love the fairy topiaries! So cute! And you aren't the only adult who enjoys the Tinkerbell movies....Caitlin and I love them

Glad I'm not the only one who likes the fairy movies. They are so cute.

Beautiful topiary pics

Thanks!

How beautiful Epcot is! I do hope someday I can go during the festival.

Kadence and I are just in awe of all the topiaries! What amazing landscape artists that make all the designs and where everything looks so prefect!

I hope you do too-though I can say the same for your mega trip this year! Can't believe you'll get to see Halloween AND Christmas in one trip.

I think Pixie Hollow is a cute area of the F&GF!

I think Sorcerer Mickey in front of Epcot, is my favorite of the entrance designs I've seen over the years!

I agree, I love it. There's so many details with all the different plants and the cute fairy houses.

Sorcerer Mickey was a great display.

I love all your pictures! I really miss going during Flower & Garden Festival.

Glad you enjoyed the pictures!

Caught up finally! What is the "secret" with Donald Duck??? I'm so curious!

Beautiful pictures from the F&GF - I wish we were returning during those dates in 2013!

haha, the secret is really just that he's #1. And we've found out that he likes when you tell him that.

Do you have any trips planned yet for 2013? That is the one good thing that if my December trip ends up being cancelled atleast I'll get to see the F&GF again.

The F&G displays are just too pretty. It really does make Epcot look different! So beautiful.

I've never seen any of the Fairy movies but I feel like I should. I just always wondered why Tink seemed so different (at least in the commercials I've seen) but maybe I'm getting the wrong impression.

The displays are beautiful though! That floating water plants are just gorgeous.

Yes it does. There's so much to see during the festival.

haha, maybe part of it is because Tinkerbell actually talks in those movies. But you should give them a try. They're cute.

I wish that Howard and I had waited to get a pic in front of the Sorcerer Mickey display. Oh man, I'm regretting it now because it was definitely our favorite! It was just SO crowded since we got there later in the day.

I love just how much you know about the fairies!

Yeah, that's the problem with those entrance displays. I'm sort of surprised we didn't have to wait too long, but as you can probably tell from the other pictures I took, I had to stand off to the side so there weren't any random people in my pictures.

Count me in for this TR!!

F&G is such a great time to visit Epcot. I agree whole heartedly. Everything is so beautiful and full of color! I was there last month and I just love all the topiaries

I did notice that fetting FP for TSMM in the morning is a lot easier now. It doesn't feel like everyone is being herded like cattle down to Pixar Place.

That cheesecake brownie looks sooooooo good! I love cheesecake so that looks right up my alley! Can't wait to read more!!

Welcome!

The topiaries are so cool. I do wish they would come out with some new ones each year-it seems like they just "recycle" all the old ones.

No, it didn't. Which made it a lot nicer walking down to the ride.

If you like cheesecake I bet you would love that brownie. It was very good.

Your pictures of the F&G pictures are so beautiful! I loved the fairy section, it was probably my favorite! Sorcerer Mickey was pretty cool too, I love Fantasia!

Thank you!

LOVE the Flower and Garden Festival!! It's definitely one of the reasons we like to visit in April so much. The Pixie Hollow section is so cute!! You got some really great pictures!! I love the rainbow of flowers near Iridessa.

I thought the rainbow was a neat idea. So cool.

Hi Sarah am catching up with your TR and WOW the view from your room is breathtaking!! I can imagine it must have been great waking up to that every morning

YAY, glad you found my new TR!

Love all the F&G pics...they look great.

Thanks. I love taking pictures of all the flowers.

Wow at leaving your room at 6.00am...only at Disney World right? It sure is advantageous especially considering how much you had accomplished by 10.00!

Yes, it is sort of crazy leaving so early. You feel like you're the only ones up (the resort was always so quiet and kind of dark when we left that early). But it really does pay off when you have an empty park to go to!

Yay on getting to ride the new Dumbo! Am sad at the thought of Snow White being destroyed like Mickeys house

I know, isn't it sad?

Love Animal Kingdom as well...it's such a great park. Great parade pics and that's cool that you were in the parade previously. The safari pics are making me want to go on one

haha, I want to go on a safari too. I just love that ride.

Okay so you got a gorgeous view every morning and then got to see Illuminations every night as well...amazing!!

Yeah, having that view definitely made the trip special!

Great pic with Piglet and yay on having an unplanned DIS meet! It must have been fun to do the drawing class together.

It was a lot of fun seeing Rachel and Howard again! I'm glad we were able to hang out, even if it was just for a little while.

Yay Soarin...love that ride and it sure is addictive! Love the pics from the Character Spot.

Yes it is. Aww now I want to go on Soarin too. haha

Am all caught up and looking forward to reading more.

I really need to get another update done soon. Hopefully later today, but definitely sometime this week since summer school is closed!

(comments in purple!)

 

[wdwgirl03]

Hi DIS friends! Hope everybody had a good 4th of July (can't believe it's already July!). It's been quite hot here in Wisconsin lately so my family ended up going to see Brave yesterday. I have to say, it was pretty good. There were times that I sort of forgot it was a Pixar movie because it's so different from all the other Pixar movies. But we all enjoyed it. There were previews for the new Monsters Inc. movie that comes out next year and also for Finding Nemo 3D (which I will have to go see since I love Nemo!). Since I have off again today, it's time for another TR update!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012 cont'd (part 3)...Boat Rides, Good food, and Saving the World

As we made our way into World Showcase, our first stop was going to be the Norway pavilion so we could ride the Maelstrom. The wait wasn't too long and within a few minutes we were in our boats ready to sail with the Vikings. We had sort of a strange experience on the ride. Shortly after we got going, our boat stopped. So we're thinking maybe they had to help someone get on/off. No big deal. Well, then there's this announcement telling everyone to stay seated and a Cast Member will be with you shortly. After that announcement, I had flashbacks to our trip to Disneyland where Dad and I got stuck on it's a small world and had to be evacuated. I texted my sister saying we were stuck on Maelstrom. They made the announcement a couple more times but luckily we got moving shortly after (so really, we were only stuck for about 5 minutes). But still, it was just so weird that they said a CM will be with you shortly. After the ride, we also caught the very end of the Norway movie (something we usually just bypass). Eventually we'll have to see the whole thing.

Since we were in Norway, Dad and I stopped at the little bakery to split one of the Norwegian club sandwiches which are always good. Then it was time for a little Kim Possible! We reported to the station in Norway and got our mission. The CM asked us if we had ever done it before and she gave us some choice as to where we wanted to go. The only 2 countries I had not yet done were China and Mexico, so I really wanted to do one of those missions. We ended up in China. Sadly I don't really remember the storyline of that mission but I do have this picture from the end of the Jade Monkey.

And here's just some random shot of the pavilion. I have to say, that area is so pretty with the water and the architecture.

At the end of the mission, we were told there was still some danger and asked if we wanted to do another mission. I figured I might as well go for the clean sweep so we also did the Mexico mission. The nice thing about the Mexico one is that it's all inside the pyramid so there aren't as many places to look. Again, I don't remember the storyline of that mission either (fail) but I think some of it had to do with Day of the Dead. After completing the mission we returned our Kimmunicator. I'm glad I was able to do all of the countries' missions before they changed it all over to Phineas and Ferb. It'll be interesting to see what that's like on my next trip.

Before leaving Mexico, we took a ride on the Gran Fiesta Tour.

Notice I broke my usual "no pictures on rides" rule because the people who were in the boat with us were taking TONS of pictures.

Then we just strolled around World Showcase, admiring all the displays for the Flower and Garden Festival.

In Germany I finally got a treat from the caramel store! Since I didn't take any pictures, I have to borrow this one from google. It was definitely hard to choose one thing since everything looked so good, but I ended up getting a huge peanut butter chocolate chip cookie drizzled in caramel. Yum!

Continuing our way around World Showcase...

Duffy! Seriously, how cute is this little guy? Love his Goofy hat!

By that point we were just about ready for a break so we headed out International Gateway to go back to the Boardwalk for an afternoon swim!

up next: Dinner at the T-Rex Cafe!

 

[dawnbu40]

Glad you enjoyed Brave! I loved it

Your pictures of China are so pretty But Towmater and Lightning seem oddly placed in Japan?

Thanks for the update

 

[wdwgirl03]

Glad you enjoyed Brave! I loved it

Your pictures of China are so pretty But Towmater and Lightning seem oddly placed in Japan?

Thanks for the update

Glad you liked the movie too. Pixar never disappoints.

I should have explained the Cars topiaries. Have you seen Cars 2? One of the main parts of the story is that Lightning McQueen is competing in the World Grand Prix, and there are 3 different races around the world. One of them is in Tokyo, which is probably why they put the topiaries in Japan.

 

[dawnbu40]

Glad you liked the movie too. Pixar never disappoints.

I should have explained the Cars topiaries. Have you seen Cars 2? One of the main parts of the story is that Lightning McQueen is competing in the World Grand Prix, and there are 3 different races around the world. One of them is in Tokyo, which is probably why they put the topiaries in Japan.

Ahhh now I get it. Cars is probably the only Pixar movie I didn't like so I never saw the 2nd one. Thanks for explaining!

 

[MHTeacher]

Wandered around in the caramel store in Germany for the first time ever during our last trip. Everything looked (and smelled) so delicious, I was completely overwhelmed, and couldn't even begin to make a decision.

So, how did your treat taste?

 

[marDgreen88]

I LOVED Brave. I've already seen it twice and I kinda want to see it again... I won't though.

Cool that you got to do all the Kim Possible missions! I never did any, but I heard that the Perry the platypus one was basically the exact same thing as far as the effects go.