Did I Hear That Right? A Solo Adventure at WDW Updated 8/30

[cheekypoppins]

mmmmm I think I'd like to try that margarita minus the mango!!! It looks good anyways.

 

[Pluto0809]

As I walked, I noticed a lot of the Flower and Garden booths set up. I missed the festival by one day.

Drive by picture of Italy and the Lady and Tramp topiary:

When I got to America, I saw the Spirit of America Fife & Drum Corps was performing so I stopped to watch them for a few minutes. It was the first time I had seen them.

When I left America, I noticed that the Illuminations globe was already out. I decided I wanted to try to get the globe with Spaceship Earth in the background. It would have been perfect except for the guy that walked into my shot at the last minute and then just stood there smiling.

I continued on into Japan:

For anyone who is reading my other TR, you will know that I had tried 2 times on our Epcot day to get a pearl small enough to fit in the Cinderella’s carriage necklace. The pearl needs to be 7 ¼ mm or less in order to fit in the necklace. Spoiler alert for that TR but I actually went back a third time and still got a pearl too big. So I wanted to try again on this trip.

It was really crowded and there were four groups ahead of me so I stood and watched for a while.

When it was my turn, I really impressed the girl because I remembered how to count to three in Japanese. So did I finally get the right sized pearl? Yes!!! I got a 7 mm pinkish pearl. Here’s my necklace:

I really love doing Pick a Pearl and will probably be back again sometime.

I walked through the rest of the Japan store but didn’t buy anything. It was about 4:30 at that point and I knew that Mo Rockin would be playing at 4:45. So I headed out to get a seat for the show.

Up Next: Maybe Disney Isn’t so Bad After All

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

That guy did just kinda grin and sit there, didn't he?

The topiaries look great. We've only been at the tail end (actually the day after Flower and Garden) once. No topiaries left up that I remember, but some of the flowers around the lagoons, etc. Even just that was pretty! I'm glad you got to at least see some of it.

We did pick-a-pearl with our moms in 2010. I did it, too, and ended up with twins! I was excited (they ended up making a nice pair of earrings), but I felt a little bad that we were there for our moms and I got the bonus. It was a fun experience - I'd do it again! Just out of curiosity, what did you do with the other pearls??

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I have actually only seen the movie at Norway, though I've always planned to see the others. Some trip I will!

I really love all of the topiaries, though Lady does not look happy in hers!

Yay for finally getting a pearl that would fit in the Cinderella cage

 

[11point5]

It's too bad you missed the food part of the F+G festival! One of the highlights of my Oct trip was eating/drinking around the world at F+W. But hey at least you got to check out a bunch of the topiaries! Great photos, I especially liked Lady's puffy ears!!

I also love that guy in your globe photos!! Made me giggle

And yay for getting a right-sized pearl finally!! Maybe you could make a bracelet or something out of all the too-big pearls? :

 

[katt789]

Man, I’ve only ever seen the Canada movie, I should really stop in for the other ones next trip! Haha.I’ve also never seen that American band before, there’s so much in WS you can miss if your timing isn’t right haha, I’m not about to wait around for any of the entertainment, but if it’s going on while I’m there I’m down!

Yay for finally getting a pearl small enough!! Pick a Pearl is DEFINITELY on my list to do next trip, and I want to get that necklace….maybe….lol I’ll have to check out what other settings they have, and of course hope I don’t get a too big pearl. Baha, as if you went back a THIRD time and it was still too big, that’s insane!

 

[ronnmel]

Yay for finally getting a pearl that fits your carriage!

I love all three World Showcase movies (I choose to pretend that the Norway movie doesn't even exist. ) I don't know which one I prefer. France has the best music, Canada is funny and reminds me of home, and China is gorgeous.

 

[CDolacki2003]

Your pictures are great. What kind of camera are you using if you don't mind me asking?

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[Pluto0809]

mmmmm I think I'd like to try that margarita minus the mango!!! It looks good anyways.

I bet they would make one for you without the Mango!

That guy did just kinda grin and sit there, didn't he?

He did! I thought about waiting for him to move but he seemed like he was going to be there a while.

The topiaries look great. We've only been at the tail end (actually the day after Flower and Garden) once. No topiaries left up that I remember, but some of the flowers around the lagoons, etc. Even just that was pretty! I'm glad you got to at least see some of it.

I was there in 2011 for Flower and Garden and it was beautiful.

We did pick-a-pearl with our moms in 2010. I did it, too, and ended up with twins! I was excited (they ended up making a nice pair of earrings), but I felt a little bad that we were there for our moms and I got the bonus. It was a fun experience - I'd do it again! Just out of curiosity, what did you do with the other pearls??

Awesome luck to get twins! A Mom and Daughter picked right before me and the Mom got silver twins. They were beautiful. And the Daugter got the biggest pearl of the day, I think it was 8 1/2 mm. As for my other pearls, one I had made into a necklace. I picked the only cage that they had for my sized pearl. It turned out really pretty. The other two I just have in the original bags. I plan on taking them back in February and having my Mom help me pick something. You can do that as long as you have the original bag.

I have actually only seen the movie at Norway, though I've always planned to see the others. Some trip I will!

I really love all of the topiaries, though Lady does not look happy in hers!

Yay for finally getting a pearl that would fit in the Cinderella cage

I kept saying that about the movies and I finally got them all in. I'm not sure if I'll ever go back and see them again but at least I saw them once.

I didn't notice that Lady looks unhappy but now that you mention it....

I was so excited to finally get the right sized pearl. I've worn the necklace a few times already and get lots of complements.

It's too bad you missed the food part of the F+G festival! One of the highlights of my Oct trip was eating/drinking around the world at F+W. But hey at least you got to check out a bunch of the topiaries! Great photos, I especially liked Lady's puffy ears!!

I also love that guy in your globe photos!! Made me giggle

And yay for getting a right-sized pearl finally!! Maybe you could make a bracelet or something out of all the too-big pearls? :

I was bummed about missing Flower & Garden. I just didn't realize I was missing it by one day or maybe I would have extended the trip by one day.

The guy in the globe photos is funny looking back. At the time though, I was just annoyed.

I did have one of the pearls set into a necklace. I think I'm going to take the two I didn't have set back in February to have Mom help me pick something for them. I think I remember a necklace that had two pearls so maybe that.

Man, I’ve only ever seen the Canada movie, I should really stop in for the other ones next trip! Haha.I’ve also never seen that American band before, there’s so much in WS you can miss if your timing isn’t right haha, I’m not about to wait around for any of the entertainment, but if it’s going on while I’m there I’m down!

Yay for finally getting a pearl small enough!! Pick a Pearl is DEFINITELY on my list to do next trip, and I want to get that necklace….maybe….lol I’ll have to check out what other settings they have, and of course hope I don’t get a too big pearl. Baha, as if you went back a THIRD time and it was still too big, that’s insane!

I really liked the Canada one. Martin Short made it pretty interesting and I love the music. France was not bad and I liked it slightly better than the China one because there were comfy seats!

I agree that there's a lot to do in WS. It's almost overwelming to try to get everything in.

You definitely need to try Pick a Pearl. It is so much fun and I think I'm addicted now. I will be going back again sometime. Oh, and there is an entire thread on here dedicated to Pick a Pearl. I know when I was looking, someone had posted pictures of all the settings.

Yay for finally getting a pearl that fits your carriage!

I love all three World Showcase movies (I choose to pretend that the Norway movie doesn't even exist. ) I don't know which one I prefer. France has the best music, Canada is funny and reminds me of home, and China is gorgeous.

Thanks, I was excited! I did like all three movies. I like Canada the best because it's funny. France edges out China in my opinion by just a bit because it has seats.

Your pictures are great. What kind of camera are you using if you don't mind me asking?

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Thanks! I don't mind you asking at all. I just have a little point and shoot. It's a Canon Power Shot SD1300IS.

 

[Pluto0809]

After finishing Pick a Pearl, I headed towards Norway and found a bench to sit on near the Mo Rockin stage. I took a few pictures of Norway from my bench:

About that time my phone rang and it was Mom. I had been texting her all day but she was at work and couldn’t text back. She was driving home so she called to talk. I told her all about my trip up to that point, she was excited I finally got the right sized pearl. We talked until the band started and then had to hang up because I couldn’t hear her anymore.

I spent about 15 minutes watching Mo Rockin before I had to leave for dinner. I really enjoy their music and try to catch them every trip.

I sent a picture of the pretty belly dancer to DH with the caption “Something you might enjoy when we come in October”. I also sent him a picture of my appetizer from dinner that night and between those two pictures he finally decided that Disney might not be so bad after all.

At 5 pm I headed towards England where I was having dinner at Rose & Crown pub. As I walked, I saw some more topiary. Princes and Princesses between France and England:

Pooh and the gang in England:

I made it to Rose & Crown about 15 minutes before my ADR and checked in.

Their pager system was not working so the girl who checked me in asked me to wait in the Beer Garden. A few pictures from where I was standing. I didn’t realize I got one of the fireworks barges in the second picture till after I got home.

I don’t think I waited more than 10 minutes to be seated. I felt bad for the girl who was seating everyone. For some reason, instead of just calling a last name, she was going up to each party and asking them their last name. It was kind of awkward because not everyone sitting in the Beer Garden was waiting for dinner. She actually found me pretty quickly since I was the only one by myself.

I was seated outside which I liked at first. It gave me a chance to watch out over the lagoon. But I was seated in the row right against the restaurant so there were people between me and the water. I felt like I was staring at them the whole time so I ended up playing on my phone for most of the meal. I was also seated right below a heat lamp. While it was starting to cool off a bit it wasn’t quite cool enough to need the extra heat.

I really didn’t want a soft drink, I was thinking that I needed to get some water in me to help with my stomachache. The waitress said she would bring me bottled water and a glass of tap water.

She also brought a basket of rolls:

They were not bad but I only ate half of one because I had decided to order an appetizer. Rose & Crown has one of my favorite appetizers ever, a Scotch Egg.

They basically take a hardboiled egg, wrap it in sausage and deep fry it. The funny thing is I’m not the biggest fan of hardboiled eggs or sausage but when you combine the two, yum! I thoroughly enjoyed every bite.

For my meal, I ordered the Fish and Chips.

I was slightly disappointed in this meal. The fries were wonderful, they have some of the best fries I’ve ever had but the fish was kind of mushy. I was glad I got the appetizer because I ended up only eating about half of the fish.

For dessert I got what I think was called The Queen’s Cake but I can’t find it online to verify:

It was chocolate cake with raspberry sauce on top. The cake was very good but I wasn’t exactly sure what to do with the stuff in the shot glass. It was liquid and didn’t have much taste. I tried putting some on the cake but it did nothing for me so I just left it.

The service was also a bit lacking, my waitress was really slow refilling my water. I went about 10 minutes without even seeing her when I needed more water. Despite my fish being a little mushy and the waitress not the best, I will still be back again to Rose & Crown. As a matter of fact, I will be making an ADR there for October since Scotch Eggs are also a favorite of DHs.

Continued in Next Post

 

[Pluto0809]

Don't miss the first part of this update on page 6.

After I finished dinner, I realized that Off Kilter was about to start a set so I decided to head towards Canada. Before I left England though, I took a picture of the Captain Hook and Crocodile topiary. I got another good photo bomb in that Captain Hook photo.

I later learned that Peter Pan was up on the roof of one of the buildings. If he was already there, I totally missed him.

I made it to China and watched Off Kilter finish their set. I think I only missed the first five minutes. This was the first time I had sat and watched them. I liked their music and will try to catch them again.

I hadn’t really made any concrete plans for this evening, I had originally thought about heading to DTD for a while. I decided at that point that I was just going to stay at Epcot and finish out the night with Illuminations. I was also feeling 100% better after eating and was craving a glass of my favorite wine from Italy. So I started back around the WS again. Not sure why I took this drive by picture in England:

When I got to the bridge between England and France, there was a PP photographer so I stopped for some pictures. Boy I can tell it was windy that day, my hair looks a little like a rats nest.

It was getting dark at this point but I tried to get some pictures of the Beauty and the Beast topiary in France.

Not the best. I do like how this fountain picture turned out.

After that, I put my camera away and just strolled slowly around the WS enjoying the pavilions. I stopped at the pin cart in America to see if the CM had any Pluto pins. I had horrible luck this trip finding Pluto ones but did get one here. The guy right in front of me traded a Pluto pin to the CM and I took it right back from her.

I got to Italy and stopped at the wine store for a glass of Rosa Regale. It’s a sweet sparkling red wine.

I finished my circle around WS while sipping my wine then decided that it was time for some shopping so I headed towards Mouse Gears.

Up Next: What Did I Think of Illuminations?

 

[oopsiDAISY]

How did I miss comments and TWO posts?? That's what I get for taking the weekends off from my computer!

So excited that you FINALLY got that prize pearl!!! I absolutely my carriage pendant and wear it so often! It never ceases to make me smile.

Wow, I do believe Rose and Crown just might have to be put on my "must try" list simply for that outdoor view and the scotch egg! That stinks that you couldn't fully enjoy the view with the folks between you and that magical beauty.

BTW~ When are you coming back to Nashville? I need more time to hang out with you!!!!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

And another post... SCORE!!! Loved your picture of the Capt. Hook topiary. Have you seen this video of something else they are doing with Capt. Hook this you at the F&G Festival? Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uaok6wbfjuI

The picture of the fountain is absolutely GORGEOUS!!! The lighting is perfect...I could just sit and stare at it and feel like I am in Epcot...

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I so love all of the topiary pictures!!

I enjoy Mo'Rockin and Off Kilter. Both are very talented.

 

[DMGeurts]

Loved all the pictures - I agree that fountain picture is Ahhhh-mazing!!!

And I really love the Photopass ones of you in WS... Those turned out really great!

I think I missed a couple of posts on the previous page, so I need to go back and check... but I must run out the door now. bbl.

D~

 

[katt789]

Maybe disney's not so bad? baha, awesome!!

Rose and Crown looks awesome, we ate there our first trip and despite the experience, it was actually really good and I'd like to eat there again. Definitely not outside though, too many birds, I would freak out bahah! The scotch egg looks intriguing....bahaha

Yum! Wine!

 

[cheekypoppins]

Oh I wanna try rose n crown so badly too ,its really too bad that u n Connie are gonna miss each other in October cause it woulda been fun to all go together there.

 

[lilwitch646]

Oh no! I hope your hip is feeling better. It's no fun to be on vacation when you have an upset stomach, and your hip is hurting. I'm glad that your dinner at Rose and Crown solved that!

Maybe Disney isn't so bad???? Bah... I'm glad you've got him almost convinced to go with you.

I really look forward to reading the rest of your TR. I haven't yet done a trip by myself, usually my Mom or my brother ends up going with me. I can't wait to see how you spent your vacation.

Looking forward to reading some more!

 

[Pluto0809]

How did I miss comments and TWO posts?? That's what I get for taking the weekends off from my computer!

So excited that you FINALLY got that prize pearl!!! I absolutely my carriage pendant and wear it so often! It never ceases to make me smile.

Wow, I do believe Rose and Crown just might have to be put on my "must try" list simply for that outdoor view and the scotch egg! That stinks that you couldn't fully enjoy the view with the folks between you and that magical beauty.

BTW~ When are you coming back to Nashville? I need more time to hang out with you!!!!

I don't get on my computer very often on the weekends either. I usually end up so far behind on everyone's TRs by Monday morning!

I do love my carriage necklace! Now I've decided I want the Little Mermaid one too so I'm going to have to go back.

Yeah I was bummed that there was a table between me and the view. I definitely recommend trying Rose & Crown. It's one of my favorite Disney restaurants.

Jim and I have talked about coming back to Nashville, there was so much that we wanted to do that we never got to. I'm not sure it will be any time soon though as we've got lots of plans this summer. I definitely want to come and spend more time with you!

And another post... SCORE!!! Loved your picture of the Capt. Hook topiary. Have you seen this video of something else they are doing with Capt. Hook this you at the F&G Festival? Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uaok6wbfjuI

The picture of the fountain is absolutely GORGEOUS!!! The lighting is perfect...I could just sit and stare at it and feel like I am in Epcot...

I did see that video of the "live" topiary. Very cool, I wish that I could have seen that in person.

I do love that picture of the fountain I took. Feel free to copy it onto your computer. Then you can feel like you are in Epcot all day!

I so love all of the topiary pictures!!

I enjoy Mo'Rockin and Off Kilter. Both are very talented.

Glad you are enjoying the Topiary pictures, I have more from my second day at Epcot.

Both bands are very talented. I wish that Mo Rockin had an album out like Off Kilter does.

Loved all the pictures - I agree that fountain picture is Ahhhh-mazing!!!

And I really love the Photopass ones of you in WS... Those turned out really great!

I think I missed a couple of posts on the previous page, so I need to go back and check... but I must run out the door now. bbl.

D~

The fountain photo is one of my favorites from the trip!

I got some really nice photo pass pics this trip. I'm still trying to decide which one to frame for my shelf at work. I'm pretty sure it's going to be the one with the Beast that I used in the intro.

Yep, the last update got split between pages. I added a note to the second one so that people know the first part is on the previous page.

Maybe disney's not so bad? baha, awesome!!

Rose and Crown looks awesome, we ate there our first trip and despite the experience, it was actually really good and I'd like to eat there again. Definitely not outside though, too many birds, I would freak out bahah! The scotch egg looks intriguing....bahaha

Yum! Wine!

Yep he's finally coming around to the idea of going to Disney and actually enjoying himself a bit!

I actually didn't see any birds while I was eating. Now at Flame Tree in AK, that's a different story!

I love that wine. I would buy a bottle to take home but it's expensive and I'm not sure how it would survive the trip in my suitcase.

Oh I wanna try rose n crown so badly too ,its really too bad that u n Connie are gonna miss each other in October cause it woulda been fun to all go together there.

Rose & Crown is a great restaurant. That would be a fun dinner with all of us. Maybe someday we will all get there at the same time.

Oh no! I hope your hip is feeling better. It's no fun to be on vacation when you have an upset stomach, and your hip is hurting. I'm glad that your dinner at Rose and Crown solved that!

Maybe Disney isn't so bad???? Bah... I'm glad you've got him almost convinced to go with you.

I really look forward to reading the rest of your TR. I haven't yet done a trip by myself, usually my Mom or my brother ends up going with me. I can't wait to see how you spent your vacation.

Looking forward to reading some more!

Thanks for joining in! Unfortunately I'm still having trouble with my hip. I go to see a bone specialist tomorrow so hopefully I'll get some answers.

Oh, he's going with me in October whether he wants to or not! It's been 15 years since the last time he was there so I gave him a long enough break.

 

[ronnmel]

Hot women and food are the easiest way to get a man to agree with you.