disneysteve
DIS meet junkie
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2002
- Messages
- 16,200
Cast: Me (45), DW (45) and DD (13)
My 27th visit, DW's 20th, DD's 15th
Sunday, August 16, 2009
We decided to make our first full day a non-park day. After sleeping late (by Disney standards), we had breakfast in the house and headed over to Lake Buena Vista Factory Stores. Of course, we did the Disney Character Outlet. My wife picked up a polo shirt but that was it. We browsed some other stores. I had coupons from Van Heusen from their rewards club but really didn't need anything so left without buying anything.
For lunch, we did the buffet at Shoney's. I think it was $7.49/person. It isn't Sweet Tomatoes but it is cheaper and was pretty decent. We went back to the house and went swimming for a while. After showering, we headed to DTD for dinner at Earl of Sandwich. Last time I was there, the place was a zoo. This time, it wasn't nearly as crowded. We even got a table inside.
After dinner, we wandered through the shops, checked out the new Tren-D store which is pretty neat, visited T-Rex, the new dinosaur-themed version of Rainforest Cafe (we didn't eat there, just saw the shop) and did our usual circuit through the stores. We headed back to the house for the night after that.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Finally, a park day. We chose EPCOT because Monday is traditionally a busy day in MK and DHS had EMH, plus it was the one day they weren't calling for rain and EPCOT is lousy in the rain.
We arrived before opening and were there for rope drop. We followed our usual route. DD and I headed to Mission:Space and DW went to get FPs for Test Track. After M:S, we met up and did the single rider line at TT first. The exit doors of the preshow room were open when we were let in, so we went straight through into the ride queue. Those same doors opened and closed a couple of times somewhat randomly. Each time, a few people got through. I'm not sure why that was happening. The ride was fine.
After that first ride, our FP start time had passed, meaning we could get another FP. I headed over to The Land and got Soarin' FPs and went back to TT for us to ride that.
From there, we all went to The Land. It wasn't time for our FPs yet so we had an early lunch at Seasons, one of our favorite places. We then signed up for the Behind the Seeds tour of the greenhouse. By then, it was time for our FP. We rode Soarin' and then saw Circle of Life before doing the tour. It was very informative. We had done a free walk through a few years ago during Food and Wine but this was just 3 people besides us and it was much easier to hear the guide and ask questions. I liked the frenzy when we fed the tilapia in the fishery. If you've never been behind the scenes, this is a nice tour and inexpensive at $16 for adults. They also give a 15% discount if you have an AP, Disney Visa or few other things. We have the Visa so got that discount.
Next was The Seas. No line at all. Just the long walk to the loading area. After the ride, we got to see the diver going into the tube thing and then went to see Turtle Talk. DW had never seen that before. DD and I did it in Disneyland a few years ago. It was very funny, really a cute family show.
Imagination was next, also no wait. From there, we debated if we wanted to start into World Showcase or head back. We decided to hit the first couple of countries so we stopped in Canada and UK before deciding we were running out of steam. We wanted to do Spaceship Earth on the way out to see the new show.
Anytime Disney changes an existing ride, Im apprehensive but they did a really nice job here. The narration is fine and the changes to the show itself work well. The whole computer room is kind of tacky but I guess it fits the story. And the video at the end is a neat touch with the personalization.
Overall, a very nice day in EPCOT and surprisingly light crowd.
We stopped at New York Pizza World on 192 to pick up dinner. This was our first time eating from there. We usually do Flippers when we want pizza but that was in the wrong direction. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. The pizza was quite good nice thin crust, not at all greasy and well seasoned. I would definitely add that to my list of recommended pizza shops in the area.
Tomorrow will be another non-park day. Weather-permitting, were going to do an airboat ride, so more report to come soon.
My 27th visit, DW's 20th, DD's 15th
Sunday, August 16, 2009
We decided to make our first full day a non-park day. After sleeping late (by Disney standards), we had breakfast in the house and headed over to Lake Buena Vista Factory Stores. Of course, we did the Disney Character Outlet. My wife picked up a polo shirt but that was it. We browsed some other stores. I had coupons from Van Heusen from their rewards club but really didn't need anything so left without buying anything.
For lunch, we did the buffet at Shoney's. I think it was $7.49/person. It isn't Sweet Tomatoes but it is cheaper and was pretty decent. We went back to the house and went swimming for a while. After showering, we headed to DTD for dinner at Earl of Sandwich. Last time I was there, the place was a zoo. This time, it wasn't nearly as crowded. We even got a table inside.
After dinner, we wandered through the shops, checked out the new Tren-D store which is pretty neat, visited T-Rex, the new dinosaur-themed version of Rainforest Cafe (we didn't eat there, just saw the shop) and did our usual circuit through the stores. We headed back to the house for the night after that.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Finally, a park day. We chose EPCOT because Monday is traditionally a busy day in MK and DHS had EMH, plus it was the one day they weren't calling for rain and EPCOT is lousy in the rain.
We arrived before opening and were there for rope drop. We followed our usual route. DD and I headed to Mission:Space and DW went to get FPs for Test Track. After M:S, we met up and did the single rider line at TT first. The exit doors of the preshow room were open when we were let in, so we went straight through into the ride queue. Those same doors opened and closed a couple of times somewhat randomly. Each time, a few people got through. I'm not sure why that was happening. The ride was fine.
After that first ride, our FP start time had passed, meaning we could get another FP. I headed over to The Land and got Soarin' FPs and went back to TT for us to ride that.
From there, we all went to The Land. It wasn't time for our FPs yet so we had an early lunch at Seasons, one of our favorite places. We then signed up for the Behind the Seeds tour of the greenhouse. By then, it was time for our FP. We rode Soarin' and then saw Circle of Life before doing the tour. It was very informative. We had done a free walk through a few years ago during Food and Wine but this was just 3 people besides us and it was much easier to hear the guide and ask questions. I liked the frenzy when we fed the tilapia in the fishery. If you've never been behind the scenes, this is a nice tour and inexpensive at $16 for adults. They also give a 15% discount if you have an AP, Disney Visa or few other things. We have the Visa so got that discount.
Next was The Seas. No line at all. Just the long walk to the loading area. After the ride, we got to see the diver going into the tube thing and then went to see Turtle Talk. DW had never seen that before. DD and I did it in Disneyland a few years ago. It was very funny, really a cute family show.
Imagination was next, also no wait. From there, we debated if we wanted to start into World Showcase or head back. We decided to hit the first couple of countries so we stopped in Canada and UK before deciding we were running out of steam. We wanted to do Spaceship Earth on the way out to see the new show.
Anytime Disney changes an existing ride, Im apprehensive but they did a really nice job here. The narration is fine and the changes to the show itself work well. The whole computer room is kind of tacky but I guess it fits the story. And the video at the end is a neat touch with the personalization.
Overall, a very nice day in EPCOT and surprisingly light crowd.
We stopped at New York Pizza World on 192 to pick up dinner. This was our first time eating from there. We usually do Flippers when we want pizza but that was in the wrong direction. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. The pizza was quite good nice thin crust, not at all greasy and well seasoned. I would definitely add that to my list of recommended pizza shops in the area.
Tomorrow will be another non-park day. Weather-permitting, were going to do an airboat ride, so more report to come soon.
