allie5
<font color=blue>WARNING! DHL men should be cautio
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Part 13.Segway tour, Epcot, Belz Mall
Main Players
Allie
Neil
Jessamy (4)
Daniel Noah (2)
Nanny Sylvie
Sunday 19th December 2004
Today is the one day of the holiday that Neil has been looking forward to the most. No, I havent arranged a hot date with one of the Santa Babes from the parade, or even set up a starring role for him as The Beast alongside Belle in her Enchanted Garden.
No today, for that dear, dear husband of mine, I have (in my role as Jimmy Saville impersonator extraordinaire) fixed it for him to ride one of those cool Segway machines at Epcot for two hours! Can you hear me rattling my jewellery and brandishing a hundredweight of Jimll Fix It Badges?
The plan today is to leave Daniel at home with Nanny Sylvie so they can have fun doing the Nanny / Grandson bonding thing .roughly translated, this means Daniel will be read his Winnie The Pooh book seven times before then smashing Nanny Sylvie over the head with it. Nanny Sylvie will then banish him to his cot and retire to watch HGTV for the rest of the day.
Jessie wants to come to Epcot with us, so we have to plan our Great Escape carefully. This is because if Daniel spots us going out without him, there will be a serious toddler meltdown situation. Luckily, there is no need to build us each a tunnel named Tom, Dick or even Harry and we arent in need of a motorcycle to jump the barbed wire fence Nanny Sylvie artfully takes Daniel out to the pool for a paddle whilst we sneak out furtively. Well, QUITE furtively, Jessie forgets she is meant to be silent as a lamb and shouts Goodbye Nanny and Daniel just as we are trying to close the door. Never mind, Nanny is quite used to dealing with Daniels tantrums
.
I had very strict instructions from the CM when booking this tour that we had to be at Guest Services at Epcot by 8.15 SHARP, so we dont leave anything to chance and are in the Jeep by 7.15am. What could possibly go wrong?
No, not another traffic jam, not the lure of a tasty ham and cheese bagel from Maccy Ds, not EVEN the banner saying SALE outside the Wal-Mart could stop us in our tracks. The obstacle this morning, was, when we arrived at Epcot at 7.40 am, the car park hadnt even opened yet!!
There we sat, with another 5 or 6 cars (probably Neils fellow Segway riders!) wondering what to do next! It hadnt occurred to me that this may happen dont Epcot do a Princess breakfast thingy starting at 8am? Surely the car park should be open by now?
We cheer when a group of CMs are dropped off .then groan when they start opening flasks of coffee and unwrapping muffins. Look, mate, there is only one thing we need opening around here and thats the car park, not your flippin breakfast!
FINALLY, on the very stroke of 8am, we are allowed in. We cheer again and park on the very, very front row in slot number 4! Yippeeee!
Mindful of the dire warning from the CM about being PROMPT, we hurry over the Guest Services window by the ticket booths. Naturally enough, this ISNT the correct one, we need to be in the one inside the park. We also learn that Americans pronounce Segway Seg (as in segment) way where we say Seg (as in sedge all right its not a word!) Way. It takes some impressive miming to make them understand what we are on about!
Of course, the next hurdle is the PARK isnt open yet, so we have to stand in the line with 4000 miniature Disney Princesses en route to breakfast to gain admission from the CM with the all important clipboard. All clued up we tell him we have a booking for the SEG (as in segment) way tour and he looks puzzled and replies Oh, you mean the SEG (as in sedge) way tour. Grrrr. My next attempt at saying this stupid word will be accompanied by pictures and a sharp stick to poke the next person who doesnt understand me.
Finally, we are in the park and sprint hastily to Guest Services, the time being 8.14 and 58 seconds. Fully expecting a portcullis to slam down in front of us as we arrive 3 or 4 seconds late, we are pleased to gain entry and collapse in a heap at the desk.
You maybe be wondering why, if it is only NEIL that is doing the Segway (you may pronounce it however you wish, Im past caring now) tour, that Jessie and I are also made to accompany him to Guest Services. The reason is, that it is far too difficult for him to say on his own Hi I have a Segway Tour booked. This has to be left to ME, in case anything goes wrong.
Of course, it doesnt, and the chirpy CM says Hi Neil and slams a sticky label with Neil on it upon his chest. It is then that Jessie and I become surplus to requirements and are ushered away by an anxious hubby, desperate to be let loose on a $4000 unicycle.
I will let you know how he got on a bit later on, but for now, its just Jessie and I left in an unopened Epcot wondering what to do for the next two hours.
Jessie wants to ride the monorail to MK and that sounded OK. It was a bit chilly (though beautifully sunny) so it would be nice to be out of the cold for awhile.
We are, of course, the ONLY people leaving Epcot and happily secure the front seat with the driver all the way to MK! Yay for us!
Driver isnt very chatty and denies all knowledge of the Pilots License Im am seriously beginning to wonder if these things are just a cruel lie, as no monorail driver has EVER acknowledged their existence. Also, it must be wicked cool driving these all day, so why are all the drivers as miserable as sin the whole time?
Maybe they could devote an entire episode of Trisha to these depressing creatures - Im A Disney World Monorail Driver Who Hasnt Smiled Since 1982 When I was Abducted By Aliens. Or something.
I have a sunny smile and would work for minimum wage and a green card come on Uncle Sam, whaddya say? Am I in?
Still, at least its bright and pleasant, we are up front on the monorail and we have a lovely ride round to the Magic Kingdom. There is a big group of people waiting to board at the TTC to go back to Epcot, including a family waiting to ride upfront, so we do the right thing and let someone else ride here for the return leg. Can ya feel the love?
By the time we get back to Epcot, the park STILL isnt open (I think it was about 8.55 by then). I look around hopefully for the ticket booth with People That Have Already Entered The Park But Were Foolish Enough To Leave emblazoned across the top. Sadly, there didnt seem to be one, so we join the heaving masses and it takes 20 minutes to get back in again. Todays cunning plan didnt work as well as it should have!
Eventually we are back in and I decide to rent a stroller for Jessie, as later on we will need to be chasing daddy who (hopefully) will be gliding around the World Showcase on his Segway. Her little legs wont be able to keep up, so Im thinking a stroller seems like a good bet today.
Once we have our nice purple chariot, we wander around to Innoventions for a little while. Jessie has a ball pressing a mighty fine selection of knobs, buttons, levers and sticks.
After this, we head over to the Fountain Espresso and Bakery for a couple of the Breakfast Pockets we had enjoyed here last year. They are basically, egg, bacon and sausage wrapped in a croissant. We really enjoyed them last time, but today we found them a bit greasy and only managed half each. Should have had that choklit croissant that was definitely calling my name instead!
We collect the stroller and wheel round to World Showcase to see if we could spy the Segwayers out and about yet.
Using the digital zoom on the camcorder, I can make out moving, pixelated specks across the lake which seem likely candidates.
I wonder if I should chance using the Walkie Talkie, or ponder if this may cause Neil to crash spectacularly as he tries to answer it. Oh, what the heck, Im filming so can always send the tape to Youve Been Framed and get £250 if he falls off .
Luckily, Neil answers without tumbling off into the lake and tells me they are about to start the tour of the World Showcase and would be hitting the UK (where I was stationed) in about 10 minutes.
I am poised ready to take my action shots as Neil appears over the bridge and then have to sprint to keep up! Im balancing the still camera, the video camera AND trying to push the stroller, so dont expect any fantastic footage of this event!
Fortunately, there were several relatives of the Segway group here and their Team Leader allowed them to stop and show off some manoeuvres before they went off again!
Jessie shouts out encouragingly Daddy, you look just like PC Plum (that is character from the well known series Balamory and I will (EVENTUALLY) post a picture for you to compare! I think it is quite spooky! Wonder if there is any money in PC Plum lookalikes?
We cant follow the Segways as they are too fast, but know the tour ends near one of the buildings down by the Fountains, so head there.
We are soon reunited with Neil who has only good things to say about the tour!
I did try to get him to write a brief report, but alas, he is too busy earning the pennies to send us back to Florida in October! Cant argue with that can I? You will, therefore have to put up with my version of events as told to me by Neil.
Brief Interlude #4 The Segway Tour. The first part of the tour consisted of Basic Training where the new recruits were introduced to their Segways and given instruction on the basic handling of the machine. Neil says they are very sensitive, and the mere action of moving your toes is enough to make the thing move!
They are given slaloms and obstacles to negotiate before being let loose in a theme park full of several thousand tourists. Apparently, one lady bailed at this point as she couldnt come to grips with the controls at all, though Neil insists it was a breeze to use after the first few minutes.
When the group are considered safe to be amongst the general public they made their way to the American Pavilion from their starting point in the Innoventions area. The circuit began clockwise and they continued past Mexico, Norway, China and Morocco before coming to a halt at America.
This is where the tour started properly, and Neil reports it was an absolute blast exploring every nook and cranny of the World Showcase on one of these!
The CM in charge weaved them in and out of all the countries except UK and Canada as they had run out of time. As it was, the tour was meant to be 2 hours, but it ran well over that. We met up with Neil around 11am.
All in all, Neils final verdict was that this is a MUST DO and wants us both to do it next year! It did sound like enormous fun, and even though I would probably fall off, Id still like to give it a try!
Jessie and I both fought for the limited edition Segway Tour Pin that Neil was presented with, but in the end it was MINE, as she had no room left on her lanyard!!
A little peeved that he now has to WALK everywhere like the rest of us, we head back over to World Showcase and ride El Rio De Tempo in Mexico. With the tragic loss of Jessies beloved Its a Small World at MK this trip, this ride offers her a tiny bit of recompense. She sings the IASW theme tune loudly in the hope this little river might suddenly sprout a tributary and flow into the REAL thing! Happily, it doesnt and we are soon back on dry land.
Jessie decides she wants to do another mask this year, so we pick one up at the Mexico Kidcot stand. Its a little annoying to find a gaggle of old ladies perched precariously on chairs designed for preschoolers, hogging all the colouring pens. They make no effort to move, even when Jessie wails that she cant get to the pens.
Ive no objection to adults doing these, but not at the expense of the kids they are designed for. The CM glances at us sympathetically, but I guess she cant say anything to them.
The old ladies look like they are set for the afternoon so we make our way to Norway, where fortunately, the Kidcot stand was deserted!
Ask Jessie if she wants to ride Maelstrom, but when she discovers its dark, wet and stormy, refuses to go near it. She did enjoy clambering over the Viking ship outside though, and if you need a sit down in this part of Epcot, it is a fairly good place for the kids to run off some energy in safety.
Next is China, where the Kidcot lady has run out of charms, so we get a Mickey sticker instead! I draw him a nice Chinesey hat to make him a bit more authentic and all is well! Neil shows us the very impressive twisty route he took with his Segway earlier and then we explore the shops. Naturally .
Germany wafts temptation in the way of our 4 year old, by means of Build Your Own Doll. Im thinking this DOES look pretty neat actually and the Doll Jessie has picked is a very nice Alice In Wonderland one.
Im slowly caving, but then catch sight of the price label oooh, $15, thats very reasonable. Hey wait I rub a spot of dirt off my glasses and another 0 materialises. $150 for a doll! Not likely. One member of the family spending ludicrous amounts of money on dolls is quite enough thank you, and fortunately, she is back at the villa today.
Placate Jessie with a trip to the pin station at that funny little bit of land that seems to now be called Africa. Scrutinise the CMs lanyards carefully to see if any of them have a monorail pin. They dont, but I thought I would ask and would you believe it, they had a big stash of them under the till! They were trading pins only though, so Jessie had to choose one of hers to trade.
Knowing this could take sometime I aimlessly stood nearby whilst she decided. It was then I felt a great disturbance in the Force well, actually, Jessie tugging at my lanyard, saying I will trade this one. With all the dexterity of a professional pick pocket she had dislodged one of my pins and happily traded it with the amused CM. Kids, dontcha love em
?
It is actually getting quite chilly now, so Neil buys himself and Jess a hot chocolate to warm up. Jessie proceeds to tip half of it down her, so we have to buy her a new top!
By the time we get to Japan, the character bus is out and we meet Chip & Dale dressed in festive scarves and Minnie in a Santa outfit!
A little further on, we meet Aladdin, who has no line, so spends quite a lot of time chatting to Jess about magic lamps, carpets and stuff. She climbs on his knee for a photo and also gets a kiss! Me, jealous? Never! Plus, if I climbed on Aladdins knee I would probably give the poor boy a coronary
.
Next, in France, we are lucky enough to catch The Beast, who poses for a great photo! Neil looks wistfully around for Belle, but she is obviously off gallivanting with Gaston as there is no sign of her
.
We near the UK at around 1pm, which is pretty good timing, as we are meeting Karen, Jon, Amber and Erin for lunch at the Rose & Crown in 15 minutes. We are also hoping that Anz and Andy, another couple of UK DISers will be able to make it too.
Its not long before we meet up with everybody! Amber, Erin and Jessie become firm friends in about 7 seconds and amuse themselves for pretty much the whole meal!
I have to say, this was a lovely meal. It was great fun meeting like minded Disney fans and the conversation never dulled for an instant!
We all told tales of our adventures so far, and we take pity on Karen and Jon who are bearing up well, despite the efforts of their parents / in laws (whom they have diplomatically left at the hotel today!). We are also keen to hear of Anz and Andys trip so far, as they only arrived a few days ago and we wonder what they think of the cold!
All in all a wonderful few hours was had by all (well, certainly by us, I hope it was the same for the others!). The girls were as good as gold, and Jessie is peachy keen that we spend Easter in Devon this year so she can spend time with her new friends
!
Just a quick note about the meal this is the first time we have eaten here so didnt know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food. Neil had fish and chips, I had sausage and mash, Jess had pizza. I felt the need to try a couple of cocktails, as they were named English Rose, so quite obviously meant for English lasses to sample. Im never one to refute a definite sign from above .
Was a teensy, eensy bit taken aback when the check arrived - $90 + tip for lunch for 3! Ouch! Still, everything was delicious, we had great company and what a wonderful setting, so worth every penny!
We leave and say our goodbyes and make our way back to the car. We stop only once at the gift shop to buy Jessie a die-cast monorail toy.
Arrive back at the villa at 4.15pm to find Daniel banished to his cot and Nanny Sylvie watching HGTV. No, not really
Daniel has actually been very good and has just woken up from a long nap.
Nanny Sylvie wants to go out after her spell indoors, so we head back out and drive up to the Belz Mall on I-Drive.
Being Sunday, there is only an hour left till closing, so time management (my speciality) comes into play. This involves throwing all my loose change at Neil, (along with the 2 kids) and shoving them all towards the carousel that is in the middle of the mall. This allows me to have at least 30 minutes shopping time without husband, child or toddler in the vicinity
.
Buy a few stocking fillers in the Character Warehouse and KB Toys. Check the price of the ipods in the electrical store. This is what Neil is getting me for Christmas (though he doesnt know it yet ).
The mall is just about to close, so we leave and cruise up I-Drive for the next hour or so. We know there are shortcuts off of here, but we are happy to sit in the traffic looking at the sights tonight. Kids like all the Christmas lights everywhere and it suddenly feels very festive all of a sudden!
We decide to stop at Chilis on the way home for supper. Nanny Sylvie has been whinging she only had a tin of soup for lunch for about the last 3 hours, so we decide to feed her up!
Head for the Chilis at Lake Buena Vista, which is packed to the rafters. They say they will have a table in about 10 minutes but it ends up being 25. Kids are mercilessly bored and play up terribly. We are almost ready to give up when our pager goes off and we are seated.
We order the boneless Shanghai wings to start (thanks to Anz and Andy for the recommendation on these YUM). Jessie orders pasta, which arrives as a plain bowl of cooked pasta with no sauce???? She isnt fussed and sprinkles some cheese on it, plus some chicken from mine and Neils fajitas. Nanny Sylvie doesnt have her old Chilis staple, Monterey Chicken, but picks the combo chicken with salmon this time. Daniel tucks into grilled chicken and fries.
The bill is a very cheap $57 for the 5 of us! Pretty good value!
Home by 9.30pm.
Tomorrow: Quiet Day. Florida Mall, Downtown Disney.
Main Players
Allie
Neil
Jessamy (4)
Daniel Noah (2)
Nanny Sylvie
Sunday 19th December 2004
Today is the one day of the holiday that Neil has been looking forward to the most. No, I havent arranged a hot date with one of the Santa Babes from the parade, or even set up a starring role for him as The Beast alongside Belle in her Enchanted Garden.
No today, for that dear, dear husband of mine, I have (in my role as Jimmy Saville impersonator extraordinaire) fixed it for him to ride one of those cool Segway machines at Epcot for two hours! Can you hear me rattling my jewellery and brandishing a hundredweight of Jimll Fix It Badges?
The plan today is to leave Daniel at home with Nanny Sylvie so they can have fun doing the Nanny / Grandson bonding thing .roughly translated, this means Daniel will be read his Winnie The Pooh book seven times before then smashing Nanny Sylvie over the head with it. Nanny Sylvie will then banish him to his cot and retire to watch HGTV for the rest of the day.
Jessie wants to come to Epcot with us, so we have to plan our Great Escape carefully. This is because if Daniel spots us going out without him, there will be a serious toddler meltdown situation. Luckily, there is no need to build us each a tunnel named Tom, Dick or even Harry and we arent in need of a motorcycle to jump the barbed wire fence Nanny Sylvie artfully takes Daniel out to the pool for a paddle whilst we sneak out furtively. Well, QUITE furtively, Jessie forgets she is meant to be silent as a lamb and shouts Goodbye Nanny and Daniel just as we are trying to close the door. Never mind, Nanny is quite used to dealing with Daniels tantrums
.I had very strict instructions from the CM when booking this tour that we had to be at Guest Services at Epcot by 8.15 SHARP, so we dont leave anything to chance and are in the Jeep by 7.15am. What could possibly go wrong?
No, not another traffic jam, not the lure of a tasty ham and cheese bagel from Maccy Ds, not EVEN the banner saying SALE outside the Wal-Mart could stop us in our tracks. The obstacle this morning, was, when we arrived at Epcot at 7.40 am, the car park hadnt even opened yet!!
There we sat, with another 5 or 6 cars (probably Neils fellow Segway riders!) wondering what to do next! It hadnt occurred to me that this may happen dont Epcot do a Princess breakfast thingy starting at 8am? Surely the car park should be open by now?
We cheer when a group of CMs are dropped off .then groan when they start opening flasks of coffee and unwrapping muffins. Look, mate, there is only one thing we need opening around here and thats the car park, not your flippin breakfast!
FINALLY, on the very stroke of 8am, we are allowed in. We cheer again and park on the very, very front row in slot number 4! Yippeeee!
Mindful of the dire warning from the CM about being PROMPT, we hurry over the Guest Services window by the ticket booths. Naturally enough, this ISNT the correct one, we need to be in the one inside the park. We also learn that Americans pronounce Segway Seg (as in segment) way where we say Seg (as in sedge all right its not a word!) Way. It takes some impressive miming to make them understand what we are on about!
Of course, the next hurdle is the PARK isnt open yet, so we have to stand in the line with 4000 miniature Disney Princesses en route to breakfast to gain admission from the CM with the all important clipboard. All clued up we tell him we have a booking for the SEG (as in segment) way tour and he looks puzzled and replies Oh, you mean the SEG (as in sedge) way tour. Grrrr. My next attempt at saying this stupid word will be accompanied by pictures and a sharp stick to poke the next person who doesnt understand me.
Finally, we are in the park and sprint hastily to Guest Services, the time being 8.14 and 58 seconds. Fully expecting a portcullis to slam down in front of us as we arrive 3 or 4 seconds late, we are pleased to gain entry and collapse in a heap at the desk.
You maybe be wondering why, if it is only NEIL that is doing the Segway (you may pronounce it however you wish, Im past caring now) tour, that Jessie and I are also made to accompany him to Guest Services. The reason is, that it is far too difficult for him to say on his own Hi I have a Segway Tour booked. This has to be left to ME, in case anything goes wrong.
Of course, it doesnt, and the chirpy CM says Hi Neil and slams a sticky label with Neil on it upon his chest. It is then that Jessie and I become surplus to requirements and are ushered away by an anxious hubby, desperate to be let loose on a $4000 unicycle.
I will let you know how he got on a bit later on, but for now, its just Jessie and I left in an unopened Epcot wondering what to do for the next two hours.
Jessie wants to ride the monorail to MK and that sounded OK. It was a bit chilly (though beautifully sunny) so it would be nice to be out of the cold for awhile.
We are, of course, the ONLY people leaving Epcot and happily secure the front seat with the driver all the way to MK! Yay for us!
Driver isnt very chatty and denies all knowledge of the Pilots License Im am seriously beginning to wonder if these things are just a cruel lie, as no monorail driver has EVER acknowledged their existence. Also, it must be wicked cool driving these all day, so why are all the drivers as miserable as sin the whole time?
Maybe they could devote an entire episode of Trisha to these depressing creatures - Im A Disney World Monorail Driver Who Hasnt Smiled Since 1982 When I was Abducted By Aliens. Or something.
I have a sunny smile and would work for minimum wage and a green card come on Uncle Sam, whaddya say? Am I in?
Still, at least its bright and pleasant, we are up front on the monorail and we have a lovely ride round to the Magic Kingdom. There is a big group of people waiting to board at the TTC to go back to Epcot, including a family waiting to ride upfront, so we do the right thing and let someone else ride here for the return leg. Can ya feel the love?
By the time we get back to Epcot, the park STILL isnt open (I think it was about 8.55 by then). I look around hopefully for the ticket booth with People That Have Already Entered The Park But Were Foolish Enough To Leave emblazoned across the top. Sadly, there didnt seem to be one, so we join the heaving masses and it takes 20 minutes to get back in again. Todays cunning plan didnt work as well as it should have!
Eventually we are back in and I decide to rent a stroller for Jessie, as later on we will need to be chasing daddy who (hopefully) will be gliding around the World Showcase on his Segway. Her little legs wont be able to keep up, so Im thinking a stroller seems like a good bet today.
Once we have our nice purple chariot, we wander around to Innoventions for a little while. Jessie has a ball pressing a mighty fine selection of knobs, buttons, levers and sticks.
After this, we head over to the Fountain Espresso and Bakery for a couple of the Breakfast Pockets we had enjoyed here last year. They are basically, egg, bacon and sausage wrapped in a croissant. We really enjoyed them last time, but today we found them a bit greasy and only managed half each. Should have had that choklit croissant that was definitely calling my name instead!
We collect the stroller and wheel round to World Showcase to see if we could spy the Segwayers out and about yet.
Using the digital zoom on the camcorder, I can make out moving, pixelated specks across the lake which seem likely candidates.
I wonder if I should chance using the Walkie Talkie, or ponder if this may cause Neil to crash spectacularly as he tries to answer it. Oh, what the heck, Im filming so can always send the tape to Youve Been Framed and get £250 if he falls off
.Luckily, Neil answers without tumbling off into the lake and tells me they are about to start the tour of the World Showcase and would be hitting the UK (where I was stationed) in about 10 minutes.
I am poised ready to take my action shots as Neil appears over the bridge and then have to sprint to keep up! Im balancing the still camera, the video camera AND trying to push the stroller, so dont expect any fantastic footage of this event!
Fortunately, there were several relatives of the Segway group here and their Team Leader allowed them to stop and show off some manoeuvres before they went off again!
Jessie shouts out encouragingly Daddy, you look just like PC Plum (that is character from the well known series Balamory and I will (EVENTUALLY) post a picture for you to compare! I think it is quite spooky! Wonder if there is any money in PC Plum lookalikes?
We cant follow the Segways as they are too fast, but know the tour ends near one of the buildings down by the Fountains, so head there.
We are soon reunited with Neil who has only good things to say about the tour!
I did try to get him to write a brief report, but alas, he is too busy earning the pennies to send us back to Florida in October! Cant argue with that can I? You will, therefore have to put up with my version of events as told to me by Neil.
Brief Interlude #4 The Segway Tour. The first part of the tour consisted of Basic Training where the new recruits were introduced to their Segways and given instruction on the basic handling of the machine. Neil says they are very sensitive, and the mere action of moving your toes is enough to make the thing move!
They are given slaloms and obstacles to negotiate before being let loose in a theme park full of several thousand tourists. Apparently, one lady bailed at this point as she couldnt come to grips with the controls at all, though Neil insists it was a breeze to use after the first few minutes.
When the group are considered safe to be amongst the general public they made their way to the American Pavilion from their starting point in the Innoventions area. The circuit began clockwise and they continued past Mexico, Norway, China and Morocco before coming to a halt at America.
This is where the tour started properly, and Neil reports it was an absolute blast exploring every nook and cranny of the World Showcase on one of these!
The CM in charge weaved them in and out of all the countries except UK and Canada as they had run out of time. As it was, the tour was meant to be 2 hours, but it ran well over that. We met up with Neil around 11am.
All in all, Neils final verdict was that this is a MUST DO and wants us both to do it next year! It did sound like enormous fun, and even though I would probably fall off, Id still like to give it a try!
Jessie and I both fought for the limited edition Segway Tour Pin that Neil was presented with, but in the end it was MINE, as she had no room left on her lanyard!!
A little peeved that he now has to WALK everywhere like the rest of us, we head back over to World Showcase and ride El Rio De Tempo in Mexico. With the tragic loss of Jessies beloved Its a Small World at MK this trip, this ride offers her a tiny bit of recompense. She sings the IASW theme tune loudly in the hope this little river might suddenly sprout a tributary and flow into the REAL thing! Happily, it doesnt and we are soon back on dry land.
Jessie decides she wants to do another mask this year, so we pick one up at the Mexico Kidcot stand. Its a little annoying to find a gaggle of old ladies perched precariously on chairs designed for preschoolers, hogging all the colouring pens. They make no effort to move, even when Jessie wails that she cant get to the pens.
Ive no objection to adults doing these, but not at the expense of the kids they are designed for. The CM glances at us sympathetically, but I guess she cant say anything to them.
The old ladies look like they are set for the afternoon so we make our way to Norway, where fortunately, the Kidcot stand was deserted!
Ask Jessie if she wants to ride Maelstrom, but when she discovers its dark, wet and stormy, refuses to go near it. She did enjoy clambering over the Viking ship outside though, and if you need a sit down in this part of Epcot, it is a fairly good place for the kids to run off some energy in safety.
Next is China, where the Kidcot lady has run out of charms, so we get a Mickey sticker instead! I draw him a nice Chinesey hat to make him a bit more authentic and all is well! Neil shows us the very impressive twisty route he took with his Segway earlier and then we explore the shops. Naturally
.Germany wafts temptation in the way of our 4 year old, by means of Build Your Own Doll. Im thinking this DOES look pretty neat actually and the Doll Jessie has picked is a very nice Alice In Wonderland one.
Im slowly caving, but then catch sight of the price label oooh, $15, thats very reasonable. Hey wait I rub a spot of dirt off my glasses and another 0 materialises. $150 for a doll! Not likely. One member of the family spending ludicrous amounts of money on dolls is quite enough thank you, and fortunately, she is back at the villa today.
Placate Jessie with a trip to the pin station at that funny little bit of land that seems to now be called Africa. Scrutinise the CMs lanyards carefully to see if any of them have a monorail pin. They dont, but I thought I would ask and would you believe it, they had a big stash of them under the till! They were trading pins only though, so Jessie had to choose one of hers to trade.
Knowing this could take sometime I aimlessly stood nearby whilst she decided. It was then I felt a great disturbance in the Force well, actually, Jessie tugging at my lanyard, saying I will trade this one. With all the dexterity of a professional pick pocket she had dislodged one of my pins and happily traded it with the amused CM. Kids, dontcha love em
?It is actually getting quite chilly now, so Neil buys himself and Jess a hot chocolate to warm up. Jessie proceeds to tip half of it down her, so we have to buy her a new top!
By the time we get to Japan, the character bus is out and we meet Chip & Dale dressed in festive scarves and Minnie in a Santa outfit!
A little further on, we meet Aladdin, who has no line, so spends quite a lot of time chatting to Jess about magic lamps, carpets and stuff. She climbs on his knee for a photo and also gets a kiss! Me, jealous? Never! Plus, if I climbed on Aladdins knee I would probably give the poor boy a coronary
.Next, in France, we are lucky enough to catch The Beast, who poses for a great photo! Neil looks wistfully around for Belle, but she is obviously off gallivanting with Gaston as there is no sign of her
.We near the UK at around 1pm, which is pretty good timing, as we are meeting Karen, Jon, Amber and Erin for lunch at the Rose & Crown in 15 minutes. We are also hoping that Anz and Andy, another couple of UK DISers will be able to make it too.
Its not long before we meet up with everybody! Amber, Erin and Jessie become firm friends in about 7 seconds and amuse themselves for pretty much the whole meal!
I have to say, this was a lovely meal. It was great fun meeting like minded Disney fans and the conversation never dulled for an instant!
We all told tales of our adventures so far, and we take pity on Karen and Jon who are bearing up well, despite the efforts of their parents / in laws (whom they have diplomatically left at the hotel today!). We are also keen to hear of Anz and Andys trip so far, as they only arrived a few days ago and we wonder what they think of the cold!
All in all a wonderful few hours was had by all (well, certainly by us, I hope it was the same for the others!). The girls were as good as gold, and Jessie is peachy keen that we spend Easter in Devon this year so she can spend time with her new friends
!Just a quick note about the meal this is the first time we have eaten here so didnt know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food. Neil had fish and chips, I had sausage and mash, Jess had pizza. I felt the need to try a couple of cocktails, as they were named English Rose, so quite obviously meant for English lasses to sample. Im never one to refute a definite sign from above
.Was a teensy, eensy bit taken aback when the check arrived - $90 + tip for lunch for 3! Ouch! Still, everything was delicious, we had great company and what a wonderful setting, so worth every penny!
We leave and say our goodbyes and make our way back to the car. We stop only once at the gift shop to buy Jessie a die-cast monorail toy.
Arrive back at the villa at 4.15pm to find Daniel banished to his cot and Nanny Sylvie watching HGTV. No, not really
Daniel has actually been very good and has just woken up from a long nap.Nanny Sylvie wants to go out after her spell indoors, so we head back out and drive up to the Belz Mall on I-Drive.
Being Sunday, there is only an hour left till closing, so time management (my speciality) comes into play. This involves throwing all my loose change at Neil, (along with the 2 kids) and shoving them all towards the carousel that is in the middle of the mall. This allows me to have at least 30 minutes shopping time without husband, child or toddler in the vicinity
. Buy a few stocking fillers in the Character Warehouse and KB Toys. Check the price of the ipods in the electrical store. This is what Neil is getting me for Christmas (though he doesnt know it yet
).The mall is just about to close, so we leave and cruise up I-Drive for the next hour or so. We know there are shortcuts off of here, but we are happy to sit in the traffic looking at the sights tonight. Kids like all the Christmas lights everywhere and it suddenly feels very festive all of a sudden!
We decide to stop at Chilis on the way home for supper. Nanny Sylvie has been whinging she only had a tin of soup for lunch for about the last 3 hours, so we decide to feed her up!
Head for the Chilis at Lake Buena Vista, which is packed to the rafters. They say they will have a table in about 10 minutes but it ends up being 25. Kids are mercilessly bored and play up terribly. We are almost ready to give up when our pager goes off and we are seated.
We order the boneless Shanghai wings to start (thanks to Anz and Andy for the recommendation on these YUM). Jessie orders pasta, which arrives as a plain bowl of cooked pasta with no sauce???? She isnt fussed and sprinkles some cheese on it, plus some chicken from mine and Neils fajitas. Nanny Sylvie doesnt have her old Chilis staple, Monterey Chicken, but picks the combo chicken with salmon this time. Daniel tucks into grilled chicken and fries.
The bill is a very cheap $57 for the 5 of us! Pretty good value!
Home by 9.30pm.
Tomorrow: Quiet Day. Florida Mall, Downtown Disney.
This is NO GOOD FOR MY DIET 
