Latte Lover
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- Joined
- Sep 2, 2003
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Wednesday 19th October 2011
Epcot today, and it’s my favourite park.
Yesterday we made arrangements to meet up at the entrance to the park which should have worked just fine but didn’t due to the fact that Tony and I were waiting after bag-check and the others were waiting before it! Bag-check was sort of off to one side so each group was hidden from the other. 20 minutes wasted so a lesson learnt!
Once through the turnstiles took a few photos and then headed off to Soarin’, everyone’s favourite. We joined the stand-by lane after getting Fast Passes for later. It was a 10 minute wait. I love Soarin’. Such a simple concept really, but so effective.
Daniel meets Stitch:
After that, we decided breakfast was calling, so stopped off at Sunshine Seasons Food Court. I had a very strange apple and caramel cake which I won’t be choosing again!
Then back to Soarin’ to use our Fast Passes. Both times we were in row 1, which is the top row and the best.
Coming out of the attraction was a bit of a crush and Joh’s shoe got broken. It was the strap bit so rather vital but she did a great “Blue Peter” job of taping it together with sticky plasters!
After that, we rode Mission Space (the green version as there was no queue) and Ellen’s Energy Adventure which Joh, Gary and Daniel had never done before. Although I quite like this ride, I always find myself falling asleep on it. Gary said his head was nodding too.
Then it was time for Nat, Matthew and Ellie’s Family Challenge! Captain EO! The rest of us have all seen this show before and I’m afraid to say we all think it’s truly dreadful. I’m sure it has its fans but it’s just so bizarre and dated. I really can’t think why Disney would remove a perfectly entertaining show like Honey I shrunk the Audience and replace it with this. To our amazement, however, Nat actually liked it!
Nat's proof that they did Captain EO:
By now it was lunchtime, and Nat, Ellie and Matthew decided to take a break and go back to their resort for a swim and a rest. Joh, Gary and Daniel stayed a bit longer and Tony and I decided to walk around to Norway and our favourite bakery, the Kringla. We ordered our usual Turkey Club sandwich to share and a Schoolbread for me and Apple Danish for Tony. And coffees, of course.
The weather had been warm and humid all morning, but by now the wind was starting to blow in great big sudden squally gusts. In fact it was so blustery, it blew the custard topping off the top of my schoolbread!
We walked around to Japan after that and bought 3 Pokemon plush toys for our nephew Kieran, who collects them. A lovely Japanese girl helped us to find the ones we wanted.
Joh enjoys a cocktail!:
We finished strolling around the Showcase and then rode Spaceship Earth, which I love.
The bit at the end where you choose your future always makes me laugh.
We bought stamps and postcards in the art of Disney, borrowed a pen from the assistant, and quickly wrote them so they would go in that day’s post.
We left the park around 4pm and on our way back to the Sheriton called in at the Lake Buena Vista Factory Outlets. Tony wanted the Big Dog shop (I think that was what it was called) but it had gone. We bought a few things in the Character outlet including a nice goofy sweatshirt for Tony.
We met up with the others for an early dinner at Smokey Bones at 5.30.
For appetiser, Tony and I shared the chicken wings with brown sugar sauce which were very nice and I think the others shared a big dish of cornbread.
For entree, I had steak (a bit over-cooked) and baked potato with fire roasted corn (delicious).
Gary's beef brisket,
Joh had ribs (no-where near as good as Manny’s), Daniel had chicken fingers, I think, which he didn’t much like, and Ellie chose grilled cheese which didn’t look very appetising either.
Ellie and Matthew shared the 7-layer chocolate cake:
Tony and I shared the apple fritters (very good):
A triple dessert for Daniel;
Over-all it was ok, but not as good as we had hoped.
While we were eating, Nat told us about her nightmare afternoon.
After leaving Epcot, she and the children caught a Disney bus back to the Wilderness Lodge where she soon discovered all their park tickets were missing! They must have fallen out of her neck holder when they all ran for the bus. She asked at guest services if there was anything they could do. They said if she had any unused Fast Pass tickets they could trace which tickets they had been used for. Nat remembered that at Magic Kingdom we hadn’t been able to use the Space Mountain FP’s and she had thrown them into her rubbish bin in her room. She then raced up to see if they were still there – and they were! She then had to go over to the Magic Kingdom so they could issue replacement tickets. How lucky was that? Thank goodness for Daniel wanting to ride Space Mountain and then it breaking down!
After dinner we drove back to Epcot for the evening.
Photopass pic of all of us:
The weather had suddenly turned really cold with a freezing cold wind. Luckily I had put my Tigger fleece in the car (I almost didn’t bother to bring anything warm with me as we have never needed it in October before). Tony had a sweatshirt top too, but the others only had tee-shirts on so had to go a buy sweatshirts. At around $50 each, I’m sure they could have done without this expense, but none of us were expecting such a rapid change in temperature, and they really were necessary.
We went and did test track, then Tony and I walked around world showcase taking photos while the others did some Kimpossible tasks which they said were really cleverly done and great fun.
Matthew concentrates on his next Kimpossible task:
While they were doing that, Tony and I found a good place for us to watch Illuminations from. It was in the “secret garden” in the UK, right by the fence. In all our years of coming to Epcot, we have never seen this garden open. Usually it is roped off for a private party. The others soon joined us and we waited – and waited for Illuminations to start. It was delayed for 30 minutes. Finally it started and it was lovely to watch the show with our good friends.
By the time the show had finished we were all very tired and decided not to take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours.
Before leaving, we met up briefly with Joh’s friend Cari from the Dis. They had met on a previous Disney cruise and it was lovely to meet her.
Asleep on our feet:
Tomorrow: Aquatica and a lost ring, Universal Studios and Friendly’s.
Epcot today, and it’s my favourite park.
Yesterday we made arrangements to meet up at the entrance to the park which should have worked just fine but didn’t due to the fact that Tony and I were waiting after bag-check and the others were waiting before it! Bag-check was sort of off to one side so each group was hidden from the other. 20 minutes wasted so a lesson learnt!
Once through the turnstiles took a few photos and then headed off to Soarin’, everyone’s favourite. We joined the stand-by lane after getting Fast Passes for later. It was a 10 minute wait. I love Soarin’. Such a simple concept really, but so effective.
Daniel meets Stitch:
After that, we decided breakfast was calling, so stopped off at Sunshine Seasons Food Court. I had a very strange apple and caramel cake which I won’t be choosing again!
Then back to Soarin’ to use our Fast Passes. Both times we were in row 1, which is the top row and the best.
Coming out of the attraction was a bit of a crush and Joh’s shoe got broken. It was the strap bit so rather vital but she did a great “Blue Peter” job of taping it together with sticky plasters!
After that, we rode Mission Space (the green version as there was no queue) and Ellen’s Energy Adventure which Joh, Gary and Daniel had never done before. Although I quite like this ride, I always find myself falling asleep on it. Gary said his head was nodding too.
Then it was time for Nat, Matthew and Ellie’s Family Challenge! Captain EO! The rest of us have all seen this show before and I’m afraid to say we all think it’s truly dreadful. I’m sure it has its fans but it’s just so bizarre and dated. I really can’t think why Disney would remove a perfectly entertaining show like Honey I shrunk the Audience and replace it with this. To our amazement, however, Nat actually liked it!
Nat's proof that they did Captain EO:
By now it was lunchtime, and Nat, Ellie and Matthew decided to take a break and go back to their resort for a swim and a rest. Joh, Gary and Daniel stayed a bit longer and Tony and I decided to walk around to Norway and our favourite bakery, the Kringla. We ordered our usual Turkey Club sandwich to share and a Schoolbread for me and Apple Danish for Tony. And coffees, of course.
The weather had been warm and humid all morning, but by now the wind was starting to blow in great big sudden squally gusts. In fact it was so blustery, it blew the custard topping off the top of my schoolbread!
We walked around to Japan after that and bought 3 Pokemon plush toys for our nephew Kieran, who collects them. A lovely Japanese girl helped us to find the ones we wanted.
Joh enjoys a cocktail!:
We finished strolling around the Showcase and then rode Spaceship Earth, which I love.
The bit at the end where you choose your future always makes me laugh.
We bought stamps and postcards in the art of Disney, borrowed a pen from the assistant, and quickly wrote them so they would go in that day’s post.
We left the park around 4pm and on our way back to the Sheriton called in at the Lake Buena Vista Factory Outlets. Tony wanted the Big Dog shop (I think that was what it was called) but it had gone. We bought a few things in the Character outlet including a nice goofy sweatshirt for Tony.
We met up with the others for an early dinner at Smokey Bones at 5.30.
For appetiser, Tony and I shared the chicken wings with brown sugar sauce which were very nice and I think the others shared a big dish of cornbread.
For entree, I had steak (a bit over-cooked) and baked potato with fire roasted corn (delicious).
Gary's beef brisket,
Joh had ribs (no-where near as good as Manny’s), Daniel had chicken fingers, I think, which he didn’t much like, and Ellie chose grilled cheese which didn’t look very appetising either.
Ellie and Matthew shared the 7-layer chocolate cake:
Tony and I shared the apple fritters (very good):
A triple dessert for Daniel;
Over-all it was ok, but not as good as we had hoped.
While we were eating, Nat told us about her nightmare afternoon.
After leaving Epcot, she and the children caught a Disney bus back to the Wilderness Lodge where she soon discovered all their park tickets were missing! They must have fallen out of her neck holder when they all ran for the bus. She asked at guest services if there was anything they could do. They said if she had any unused Fast Pass tickets they could trace which tickets they had been used for. Nat remembered that at Magic Kingdom we hadn’t been able to use the Space Mountain FP’s and she had thrown them into her rubbish bin in her room. She then raced up to see if they were still there – and they were! She then had to go over to the Magic Kingdom so they could issue replacement tickets. How lucky was that? Thank goodness for Daniel wanting to ride Space Mountain and then it breaking down!
After dinner we drove back to Epcot for the evening.
Photopass pic of all of us:
The weather had suddenly turned really cold with a freezing cold wind. Luckily I had put my Tigger fleece in the car (I almost didn’t bother to bring anything warm with me as we have never needed it in October before). Tony had a sweatshirt top too, but the others only had tee-shirts on so had to go a buy sweatshirts. At around $50 each, I’m sure they could have done without this expense, but none of us were expecting such a rapid change in temperature, and they really were necessary.
We went and did test track, then Tony and I walked around world showcase taking photos while the others did some Kimpossible tasks which they said were really cleverly done and great fun.
Matthew concentrates on his next Kimpossible task:
While they were doing that, Tony and I found a good place for us to watch Illuminations from. It was in the “secret garden” in the UK, right by the fence. In all our years of coming to Epcot, we have never seen this garden open. Usually it is roped off for a private party. The others soon joined us and we waited – and waited for Illuminations to start. It was delayed for 30 minutes. Finally it started and it was lovely to watch the show with our good friends.
By the time the show had finished we were all very tired and decided not to take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours.
Before leaving, we met up briefly with Joh’s friend Cari from the Dis. They had met on a previous Disney cruise and it was lovely to meet her.
Asleep on our feet:
Tomorrow: Aquatica and a lost ring, Universal Studios and Friendly’s.
WOW! I am so glad to hear Nat got this fixed! This solution is really good to know and could even help others if it were posted on a general WDW tips thread. 
