danandjackie
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2003
- Messages
- 440
Day 3 Sunday
So today its time to take advantage of the DTD Hiltons EE. So last night after arriving back from Fultons at about 11.30pm I took out the timetable the lady had given me on checking in. Tomorrow is EE to the Magic Kingdom at 7.00am with a bus pickup from the Hotel at 6.15am. The bus will only pick up from the Hilton at this time as its the only DTD Hotel to get EE privileges. Having noticed that we cant order breakfast in bed for 5.30am I carefully set the alarm clock for the morning, organise all the tickets and passes we need for tomorrow and get some sleep. Awake as planned at 5.30am shower and make coffee and we are in the lift at 6.10, has to be a record. Well at least it appears to have stopped raining this morning but its still cold. I have visions of being the only people at the pick up point for the bus, is anyone else as mad as us? Yes reassuringly there are others waiting, in fact theres a full coach load of mainly families, how on earth do you get your five year olds up and ready at this time, you have my deepest respect. The bus arrives and were off. As it is still practically dark its hard to see the route the bus takes but it seems to be the most circular route imaginable, it doesnt stop anywhere else until we get to the TCD where we are ushered onto a waiting empty monorail that picks up a couple of people from its hotel stops before depositing us at the MK entrance. Its just coming light now and theres hardly a soul around. We enter the turnstiles and the cursory bag check. Despite never having anything other than a small Bum bag I learn the lesson to check what the person in front of you is carrying as a Japanese family in front seems to have brought everything but the kitchen sink. Fortunately the security let me through in front them.
So what to do first,,, it appears today that Fantasy Land is fully open as is Tomorrow Land, however the first thing to do is get Jackie a Stich sweatshirt as it seems to be even cooler this morning than yesterday, I wouldnt be surprised if Splash Mountain is just one big icicle.. Once the sweatshirt is bought and the layers of clothing increased its a walk on to Space Mountain..
The Tomorrowland area does appear to be much improved from its 70s look when we visited in 1991 however Space Mountain still seems dated and is not a patch on the newer French version of this ride, this isnt a gripe by the way its still all fun, just a small observation We then rode Stitchs great escape. To be honest the animatronics in the pre show are fantastic but the actual show/ride is rather disappointing, not up to Disney standards really..We then headed back to Frontierland for the rope drop
and rode Big Thunder on the first train. We headed back to Main Street then to get a breakfast quiche and some tea and coffee as we had always planned to leave an EE park immediately and head to another park for opening time.
There were lots of characters around near the station, all seven dwarves and snow white, Mickey, Donald duck and eyore as we left presumably as they have arrived for the opening ceremony.. We nipped out and got the Monorail back to the TTC and then transferred to the Epcot monorail and were in Epcot for 8.30.. Queuing time so far being nil.
Smoothly into epcot, picking the write queue for the bum bag search this time. Epcot itself is still emptyish so we grab a FP for Test Track and head over to Mission Space which is a walk on.. Absolutely love this. We are both blown away by how this works so well, the feeling of acceleration is incredible. So we re ride straight away and then head over to test track grabbing another MS FP on the way. Whilst grabbing this FP Jackie is grabbed by Mickey in his space outfit as she is waiting near a concealed door
and is blocking his way to get into the Park at MS, its quite funny as Jackie has no idea he was there and jumps out of her skin when she turns to see whos trying to get past. Walk on to Test Track then, boy the cold section feels colder than ever and I actually start thinking I dont want it to go outside as its to cold,
but its a great rush when it does finally goes out to its speed test. We then do Ellens Energy, I cant remember if this was Ellen last time we came or not but its fun as we like her comedy style. We then re-ride MS after grabbing another TT FP and then re-ride TT.
We then start to walk around the World Showcase. I had forgotten just how large this area is, pop into Mexico for the ride to keep warm, Mexico is having a rush on people buying those long blanket Ponchos to keep warm in. Then we do the Maelstrom ride in Norway which is a walk on. Then we keep walking all the way around for todays PS which will be at the Coral Reef.
We are seated at the front of the tank after a 5 min wait and are served by CM Todd who is excellent and very knowledgeable about the tank and its inhabitants. Excellent food Crab cakes for Jack followed by Cornish Hen and Clam Chowder followed by blackened Catfish for Danny all washed down with a warming bottle of Sonoma Zinfandel and a separate review again but one thing that does stand out is the better attention to detail from the CM in service, it really does seem to stand out that were getting Disney attention to detail today.
Its busier when we come out so we have a look in Mouse gear and get more FPs for Mission Space. Also walk more around the World Showcase and basically just stroll through the countries stopping to watch Off Kilter in Canada perform some Deep Purple, and popping into England for a cup of Earl Grey to warm us up a little. We then head back to Mission Space to use our FP, its actually a lot busier now so we think well head to Spaceship Earth as its a fast loader only it seems to have stopped dead (probably the cold).
We have a PS for the Candlelight Procession at Chef de France,
Danny says this restaurant definitely has the best looking waitresses he has seen yet but unfortunately for him we are taken care of buy Sebastian from Cannes whom I practice some French with. Jackie has Roquefort Salad followed by Snapper with Ravioli, which Sebastian declares to be an excellent choice; Danny has Escargots followed by a hearty Lamb Cassoulet, which we accompany with a nice bottle of French Merlot. Good see separate notes
After a nice long dinner we go the the Candlelight Procession which is ok, though not as good as I was expecting from Disney, though I think its a combination of the cold and a terrible acoustic setting, the music and choir simply get blown away in the wind and the choir sing everything rather flat with no parts or descant.
Another great long day though with wonderful food and some new awesome rides to try at Epcot, we manage to ride another Test Track on the way out in the dark which is even better and even colder.
So today its time to take advantage of the DTD Hiltons EE. So last night after arriving back from Fultons at about 11.30pm I took out the timetable the lady had given me on checking in. Tomorrow is EE to the Magic Kingdom at 7.00am with a bus pickup from the Hotel at 6.15am. The bus will only pick up from the Hilton at this time as its the only DTD Hotel to get EE privileges. Having noticed that we cant order breakfast in bed for 5.30am I carefully set the alarm clock for the morning, organise all the tickets and passes we need for tomorrow and get some sleep. Awake as planned at 5.30am shower and make coffee and we are in the lift at 6.10, has to be a record. Well at least it appears to have stopped raining this morning but its still cold. I have visions of being the only people at the pick up point for the bus, is anyone else as mad as us? Yes reassuringly there are others waiting, in fact theres a full coach load of mainly families, how on earth do you get your five year olds up and ready at this time, you have my deepest respect. The bus arrives and were off. As it is still practically dark its hard to see the route the bus takes but it seems to be the most circular route imaginable, it doesnt stop anywhere else until we get to the TCD where we are ushered onto a waiting empty monorail that picks up a couple of people from its hotel stops before depositing us at the MK entrance. Its just coming light now and theres hardly a soul around. We enter the turnstiles and the cursory bag check. Despite never having anything other than a small Bum bag I learn the lesson to check what the person in front of you is carrying as a Japanese family in front seems to have brought everything but the kitchen sink. Fortunately the security let me through in front them.
So what to do first,,, it appears today that Fantasy Land is fully open as is Tomorrow Land, however the first thing to do is get Jackie a Stich sweatshirt as it seems to be even cooler this morning than yesterday, I wouldnt be surprised if Splash Mountain is just one big icicle.. Once the sweatshirt is bought and the layers of clothing increased its a walk on to Space Mountain..
The Tomorrowland area does appear to be much improved from its 70s look when we visited in 1991 however Space Mountain still seems dated and is not a patch on the newer French version of this ride, this isnt a gripe by the way its still all fun, just a small observation We then rode Stitchs great escape. To be honest the animatronics in the pre show are fantastic but the actual show/ride is rather disappointing, not up to Disney standards really..We then headed back to Frontierland for the rope drop
and rode Big Thunder on the first train. We headed back to Main Street then to get a breakfast quiche and some tea and coffee as we had always planned to leave an EE park immediately and head to another park for opening time.
There were lots of characters around near the station, all seven dwarves and snow white, Mickey, Donald duck and eyore as we left presumably as they have arrived for the opening ceremony.. We nipped out and got the Monorail back to the TTC and then transferred to the Epcot monorail and were in Epcot for 8.30.. Queuing time so far being nil.
Smoothly into epcot, picking the write queue for the bum bag search this time. Epcot itself is still emptyish so we grab a FP for Test Track and head over to Mission Space which is a walk on.. Absolutely love this. We are both blown away by how this works so well, the feeling of acceleration is incredible. So we re ride straight away and then head over to test track grabbing another MS FP on the way. Whilst grabbing this FP Jackie is grabbed by Mickey in his space outfit as she is waiting near a concealed door
and is blocking his way to get into the Park at MS, its quite funny as Jackie has no idea he was there and jumps out of her skin when she turns to see whos trying to get past. Walk on to Test Track then, boy the cold section feels colder than ever and I actually start thinking I dont want it to go outside as its to cold,
but its a great rush when it does finally goes out to its speed test. We then do Ellens Energy, I cant remember if this was Ellen last time we came or not but its fun as we like her comedy style. We then re-ride MS after grabbing another TT FP and then re-ride TT.
We then start to walk around the World Showcase. I had forgotten just how large this area is, pop into Mexico for the ride to keep warm, Mexico is having a rush on people buying those long blanket Ponchos to keep warm in. Then we do the Maelstrom ride in Norway which is a walk on. Then we keep walking all the way around for todays PS which will be at the Coral Reef.
We are seated at the front of the tank after a 5 min wait and are served by CM Todd who is excellent and very knowledgeable about the tank and its inhabitants. Excellent food Crab cakes for Jack followed by Cornish Hen and Clam Chowder followed by blackened Catfish for Danny all washed down with a warming bottle of Sonoma Zinfandel and a separate review again but one thing that does stand out is the better attention to detail from the CM in service, it really does seem to stand out that were getting Disney attention to detail today.
Its busier when we come out so we have a look in Mouse gear and get more FPs for Mission Space. Also walk more around the World Showcase and basically just stroll through the countries stopping to watch Off Kilter in Canada perform some Deep Purple, and popping into England for a cup of Earl Grey to warm us up a little. We then head back to Mission Space to use our FP, its actually a lot busier now so we think well head to Spaceship Earth as its a fast loader only it seems to have stopped dead (probably the cold).
We have a PS for the Candlelight Procession at Chef de France,
Danny says this restaurant definitely has the best looking waitresses he has seen yet but unfortunately for him we are taken care of buy Sebastian from Cannes whom I practice some French with. Jackie has Roquefort Salad followed by Snapper with Ravioli, which Sebastian declares to be an excellent choice; Danny has Escargots followed by a hearty Lamb Cassoulet, which we accompany with a nice bottle of French Merlot. Good see separate notes
After a nice long dinner we go the the Candlelight Procession which is ok, though not as good as I was expecting from Disney, though I think its a combination of the cold and a terrible acoustic setting, the music and choir simply get blown away in the wind and the choir sing everything rather flat with no parts or descant.
Another great long day though with wonderful food and some new awesome rides to try at Epcot, we manage to ride another Test Track on the way out in the dark which is even better and even colder.
