Drinking around the world...or...Outdrinking my DF...the shame...

[Belle Amy]

I've been gathering memories of Disney trips past for my own personal benefit, just because I like to look back on the fun and good times. This trip report covers my first experience at Epcot and my first attempt to conquer the beheameth that is drinking around the world...This occured February of 2004.

Drinking around the world is not a feat for the weak of heart or faint of liver. I had been preparing myself for this moment all my life....every drink had lead me here, to Mickey's doorstep, in the ultimate battle for drunken bragging rights!!!

Alright, it wasn't that epic...I just wanted to have a drink in every country...I heard that it was hard to do and thought I'd try my hand...and liver...at the task.

To truely understand the desire to conquer DATW (cause I don't feel like typing it anymore, this is how I will refer to drinking around the world...), one must understand my desire for Disney.

When I was little, my parents took me on vacation to Florida. I was born and raised in Pennsylvania, and the harshness of the PA winter forced my parents to flee to the warmth and humidity of Florida. I found it entertaining that I could swim in December...granted, the pools at the houses we rented were NOT heated, and the water was still pretty cold, but I was a fish, and it didn't matter to me. We vacationed in the Florida Keys, always near the busier tourist spots, and always around numerous bars. My parents were one with the good times, and places like Islamarada's Holiday Isle appealed greatly to their alcoholic senses. Holiday Isle contained no less than five bars, within a short five minute walk and while we were staying in a private home on a canal, we always ended up at Holiday Isle, them drinking the day away, me, wandering around the shops and marinas, trying to find something of interest.

When I was thirteen, my parents told me we were moving to Florida. Dad had just had back surgery and the doctor suggested that warm weather would help the healing process. I never questioned the validity of this statement, nor did I hear the doctor make this proclaimation, so it may have been a cheap lie to get me to come to Florida. No matter what, I was not thrilled with the prospect and tried to lash out in protest...all I managed to do was do poorly in most of my classes, which later made me look like an idiot at my new school...but that's another story..

I slowly acclimated to Florida, getting used to the un-Christmas like weather, the sweltering summers, and the thick humid air.

But what does this have to do with Disney you say? Well, mostly a small measure of resentment towards my parents for not taking me as a kid....my parents have never been big on crowds and lines and, well Disney...they still aren't really sure where I got it from, because it certainly wasn't them.

My Disney passion started off painfully slowly, mostly due to my painful experiences during my first two trips...

My first trip was with my boyfriend at the time, Mike. We were fifteen, and my sole purpose of going to Disney was to see a friend from Pennsylvania. The marching band for her high school was going to be in the Magic Kingdom Main Street Parade and I was going to meet her early in the morning beforehand and see her for the first time in two years. But I waited at the train station on Main Street. Ten o'clock passed quickly...then eleven...soon, I was so frustrated, and in this pre-cell phone world, I had no idea how to get ahold of her. So I took my boyfriend and wandered around, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. You know how when you are touring a park and you see the same people repeatedly? You know damn well there are over fifteen thousand people in the park, but you keep running into that one family that tries to feed the birds every man made food they purchase, in turn possibly hurting the birds, and completely ignoring the signs that tell them to do the exact opposite...yeah, you see them all day....I didn't see her at all...

At this point, I should probably mention that my then boyfriend had been hit by a car the week previous...It wasn't a direct hit, caught his arm and his leg as he tried to jump out of the way, and he didn't break anything, but he was horribly sore...causing us to stay away from any fast moving rides...we stuck to the stage shows (when the Lion King show was still around), the Carousel of Progress, and any other slow moving educational fare we could find....

I decided the next best way to find my friend would be to follow the band during their march down Main Street. After coming to a dead end by the fire station, I was told I could meet them at an entrance next to Pirates of the Carribean. And so I went. Finally, after five hours, I met up with her...only to be ditched when she wanted to hang out with her boyfriend, who didn't understand that my boyfriend was essentially crippled and could not walk quickly or climb the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse...at this point, I said screw it, and we spent the rest of our day at our own pace, which did not allow for Pirates of the Carribean or Haunted Mansion or Space Mountain...

Perfectly good trip, wasted...


Second Expedition to Magic Kingdom ~~ Nov 1998
Cast of Characters
Me~~ High School Senior, glad to be getting away from my dumpy town, even if it is for a day...
My best friends Julia and Tiff (Tiff had been given three complimentary tickets by her brother, and invited Julia and I along as her guests)
My then boyfriend~ Matt
Matt's obnoxious but lovable friend ~Shawn

Matt and Shawn found out us three girls were going to MK and they called in sick to work (fools, they worked at the same place...)

This trip was a little more eventful...with no boyfriend in pain to hold me back, we went on almost everything that I wanted to originally go on...

My favorite part of the trip?? The souvenier I got...well actually two of them...I got a tiny mickey head with my birthstone in it, and a fiberoptic mickey wand that changed colors when you turned it...and my fascination with glowing things began...

Our trip was once again cut short, with the instruction from Julia's father that she had to be home by dark...spoil sport...


So my first two experiences weren't the greatest...but from here on, they just get better....


Up next....planning for my big drinking outing...why do I scare my podmates during Mission Space? How do you get lost in Canada without a beer? And why are we getting angry glances in Japan? Find out, in the next installment!!

 

[Minniespal]

Can't wait for more.

 

[Belle Amy]

A girl remembers her firsts...first kiss...(ew, it was horrible)...first boyfriend...(what a loser he was)...first time being drunk...(on leftover champagne at a wedding when I was 12)...good times...

But this girl remembers the first time she got drunk at Epcot a little more fondly...

First, it may never have happened if I hadn't met Brian. Among other things, Brian was a total lush just like me. We met through friends, and slowly cultivated a fantastic relationship. Then, one day, he asked if I wanted to go get drunk around the world.

"What is this you speak of? Drinking in eleven different recreations of countries? With native people and alcohol? Sign me up!!"

From the moment the discussion began, I pictured it. I was not aware, however, that there would be so many cultural influences in each country. To me, there were eleven seperate beer carts, each calling to me in their native languages.

Mexico would beckon "Por favor, viene la bebida mi alcohol. Se hace con agua dulce, agua no mexicana." (Loose translation : Please, come drink my alcohol. It is made with fresh water, not Mexican water.)

Germany boasted "Bitte trinkt unser Bier, wir vielleicht haben erfunden es, und haben sicher es perfektioniert. Und, Sie können einige Würste essen, während Sie hier sind." (Translation: Please, drink our beer, we possibly invented it, and certainly perfected it. And, you can eat some sausages while you are here."

But the United Kingdom would win me over with their phrases. "Oi, come ova here un hava pint! We're tha mos pleasin ta da eyes too." Well, they've got a point...the bartenders from the United Kingdom certainly did win points with their good looks. (No offense to other countries, but I am a bit biased!)

I talked to friends who had attempted to drink their way through each country, and each person had a different opinion on what country was the best...and that was the place they usually got caught up, never really making it around all eleven countries. I, on the other hand, was determined to do them all...

We arrived at Epcot early in the morning and did the usual rounds of Future World. Since the World Showcase wasn't open until 10am, and we didn't want to pass out before Illuminations at 9pm, we decided not to drink until at least 2 or 3 in the after noon. This was BAP's or Before Annual Passes, so we wanted to make the most of our admission tickets.

I really enjoyed Innoventions, although they certainly have added more kiosks since I first stepped foot inside. But then, I'm a geek and they have computers and trivia and the like, so I'm pretty much in heaven.

Mission Space was a rough one for me. Up until I was about thirteen, I could take any movement you could throw at me. I've always been a roller coaster buff, I've been in the deep ocean fishing on choppy seas, and I never once felt sick. But something in my advanced teen years kicked in, and any spinning sensation makes me barf. These kind of rides include the tilt-a-whirl, teacup like rides, the gravitron, etc. So I was more than a little worried about Mission Space. Especially when setting foot inside after the "Debriefing" with Gary Sinese(Lt. Dan!!), and they repeat about ten times that people with motion sickness to spinning should not attempt this ride. It really puts the fear into you when a ride has to remind you that it's ok if you want to chicken out. But this is one of Brian's favorite rides, and I figured I have to do everything once.

After getting settled in the "cockpit" I notice the barf bags, and prepare one in front of my mouth, just in case. The other two people on the ride with us looked frightened, and I could tell they hoped, probably more than I did, that I wouldn't puke....I imagined myself puking and causing the rest of my podmates to begin to do so as well...stepping off the ride covered in vomit...yum...

I also worried that once the thing started spinning that I would not be able to push my respective "flight responsibility buttons" for fear that I would lose concentration on not barfing and do so while initiating hypersleep.

Turns out, I really had nothing to worry about. Yes, it made me a little queesy, but I think it was more nerves than anything. I held onto my chunks, and silently thanked the barfing gods for allowing me to go through with this ride. I also thanked my inner alcohol desire for not drinking before the ride. I know with certainty that I would have been a warm beer dispenser.

The next coolest thing about Mission Space is the Space Race just outside the exit of the ride. Call me a dork, I know I am, but I think it's the coolest thing. Of course it lends itself to becoming a battleground between Brian and I, as we are super competitive with things like that. For those who have just watched or completely missed Space Race because the Cast Members don't seem real keen on calling disembarking ride goers over to the stations, it's a very simple game.

There are two teams, two spaceships, Triton and Orion. (We've always been partial to Triton, I don't know why) The goal is to win the race from Mars, around the moon and back to the space station.

There are eight astronauts, four on each team. Astronauts must move little colored gems to the corresponding color on the mock spaceship. Once the gem is dropped in the proper spot, a fix has been completed, making the ship healthier. After so many fixes, the team can boost, giving a push forward, nosing a bit ahead of the opposing team.

Now, in the "mission control" area, there are roughly 20 stations. These stations never fill up completely, at least not while I've been there. This is where the real competition starts. Each station has 15 buttons, each button corresponds to the screen in front of you. Essentially you pick a color, and a puzzle pops up on the screen. Each time you press a button on the pad, the corresponding section of the screen changes. The goal is to change each peice that is out of order. Once you do this, you press upload, and you have completed your first fix. This is the competition. Brian and I try to get more fixes than the other. Puzzles seem to get increasingly harder as the minutes tick by. The record, I believe is 28, held by Brian. Loser.

So after our competition at Space Race (which, by the way, on this trip, I kicked his butt at), we wandered around a little more. Test Track was packed, but we waited the 60 minutes. It was fun, but the waiting area was more interesting. We discussed the random road signs found on the walls and the best places to put them for optimum hilarity.

"The one way sign with the arrow should go pointing down."

"No, the dead end sign should go on a road that obviously doesn't have a dead end." We snickered like the idiots we are.

"Warning, Children at Play should go in the swamp."

This is what we choose to do with our time in line. Don't judge.

After Test Track, we went to the Living Seas. We both have a fascination with the ocean and the animals within, but this has to be one of the more disappointing attractions for me. Maybe I've visited some amazing aquariums, but I think that the upkeep on the tanks is poor at best. The fish look diseased, eaten, and the selection of sharks is very few. Maybe I've visited SeaWorld too much, but I just don't enjoy the massive tank at Living Seas.

First off, I want to talk about the Hydrolators. I've bashed them for ages, in hopes that in bashing them privately they will take the hint and leave town. Apparently my taunting has worked. I understand that Disney installed them as a crowd thinner, so large groups of people would not enter the area at the same time. But seriously. Dear Disney, they are stupid. Entirely without Disney magic. No creativity, no urge to smile and say "Awe, what a sweet idea." Nothing. The only thing I get when I have to use the Hydrolators is bored. Thank you for their removal.

The small tanks found on the first and second levels are much better quality, but they are smaller and newer, most banking on the Finding Nemo craze. If I have to hear one more adult scream "Look it's Dory" or "Look at all those Nemos!!" I'll stop coming to Disney.

Alright, that will NEVER happen, but come on parents, why can't you say, "Look, it's one of Nemo's cousins." We all know that Nemo lives off the coast of Australia. And didn't that movie teach us that keeping fish in tanks was cruel and they want to get out?? That being said, I saw the coolest black clownfish my first time there. And I've never seen him again. I don't want to know what happened to him. Hopefully he's out there somewhere riding the EAC.

And now for a fish completely unrelated to Finding Nemo.

I am entirely enthralled by the cuddlefish. I have and always will spend the majority of my time around their tank. They are squid/nautalis without the shell/chubby bodied little creatures. I think they are fascinating, but they never have any experts to talk about them, and very little reading material near their tank. They change color quickly to warn off other cuddlefish, especially during mating season. (I'm totally making this up, only drawing logical conclusions to my hours of watching them....that's what real scientists do too right? Make conjecture off observation? P.S. Disney, please supply cuddlefish expert for my learning pleasure.) Anyway, they are super weird to look at and somehow cute, all at the same time.

And now, back to Finding Nemo related characters.

Turtle Talk with Crush is amazing. I mean, the line's amazing. It goes on forever, taking up the majority of the room in "SeaBase Alpha". But, it really is a great show. Crush comes in, and you think that it will be some prerecorded crap, until he starts talking to the kids. And not just talking to them, but naming what they are wearing. Completely interactive. There must also be microphones in the back for the person playing Crush to listen in on the adults seated in the back. When Crush asked the little kids up front what they liked to eat, one of the parents whispered "Turtle soup." That got a laugh from most of the back section of the room. Crush shook his head and said, "You adults are sick, man." Good times.

But, there is a reason why the line is always insanely long. It's a great show.

So, now that Brian and I have done most of what we came to do in Future World, there was just no holding me back anymore. I had to see this World Showcase and show it what I was made of.

We debated about the best course of action, entering to the right, starting with Canada, or to the left, and starting with Mexico. We decided on Canada, as it was closest to the UK, and if nothing else, we knew there was beer in the UK that we liked.

So we started in Canada. Unfamiliar to the whole drinking around the world thing, I honestly thought there were bars set up in each of the countries. I skipped right by the beer cart in Canada, and started walking down the paths and under the waterfalls. I got us horribly lost. And I was starting to get cranky. I had been in World Showcase for more than a few minutes and I still didn't have the precious beer in my belly. So I forced my way back to the main drag, and attacked the unsuspecting beer vendor..."Molson, now!!!"

Of course I didn't. He was much too nice, (and might I mention a cute Cannuk...) and handed over two Molsons promply for our consumption.

The best thing about World Showcase is that you can either drink quickly, because getting to the next country means buying another beer, or you can walk slowly, taking in the sights and watching the people. People watching is one of our favorite past times. Especially with a beer in our hands. But the Molson was the first beer of the day, and we had many more coming our way. So we drank quickly and made our way into Rose and Crown Pub.

Let me say, I love everything about that place. Brian also informed me that there would be a cute little old lady playing the piano towards the back of the pub, but it must have been her day off. At first I worried that Brian was imagining little old ladies again, but there was a picture on the wall confirming that he wasn't delusional.

I wasn't dissappointed with the selection of beer, or with the selection of bartenders behind the counter. Of course I kept the oogling to a minimum (Love you honey! Oh you know you look too...) So we picked up a Guiness for me and a Bass for Bri-guy, and made our way back out to the street.

Next to the door of the pub, there is a small booth of sorts selling most of what the pub does, but also the half yards of beer. They are what I have always refered of as beer bongs, and I've never tried one, for fear that I will have warm beer by the end. But they are fun to watch people walk around with at the very least. We stopped and watched as a little girl squatted in the middle of the walkway and took care of some business. (She had a diaper on!) We couldn't stop giggling at how cute it was.

We started moving toward France, over the bridge, and we saw the beginnings of a street performer. He had a rope and some chairs, and a very obnoxious whistle. But I was willing to look past that. I was on my second beer, and starting to feel no pain. A buzzing Amy is a happy Amy.

Now if you've seen the street performer with the chair in France, you know of the little secret towards the end. And if you are a real Disney virgin and want to remain surprised, cover your ears....ha...The man in the audience, you know the little short one with the horrible tourist clothes, he's a ringer. Yep...oh, you didn't know?? Oh, you thought he was just an agile short guy on vacation. Sorry to ruin it for you.

Now, this was my first experience with a Disney ringer. Ringer, for those who don't know, is someone dressed like a regular member of the audience, with an inevitable amazing feat that they will perform. It's all to make the average gawking passerby feel stupid. "How could I not have known he was a ringer!!" "Oh, I knew, look how spry he is, no one on vacation would wear that tacky fanny pack..." Looking around, noticing numerous tourists with the "tacky fanny pack".

Since this day, when we were duped into thinking this unexceptional little man was just a tourist, we've been wary of any volunteer from the audience. We've become obsessed really. "Oh, she was a ringer, I could tell, she acted like she's never played a drum before, but she had very good rhythm" or "I don't believe it, there is no way that little kid was surprised when he was chosen to lead that parade. He works for Disney." We even go as far as to choose the ringer when we know there is going to be one, like at Indiana Jones Stunt show at MGM. "No one wears a neon orange shirt to a park, it's ludacris....yep, he's the ringer."

After watching the French ringer balance on high with a "broken" stunt chair, we clapped and realized we were out of beer. And this just would not do.

We stopped at the closest beer booth, which happened to be Moracco. Yes, we didn't buy a beer in France, and I hoped to not miss a country, but my desire to find a beer trumped my desire to not wander around aimlessly until I found one. So Moracco it was. And we were double lucky. Mo'Rockin was just starting.

We are not nice people. I mean, we aren't evil or anything, but more often than not, we're more than happy to make fun of a random person than say something nice about one. I won't apologize, it would be a cheap apology and I'd probably start making fun of you as soon as you accepted it. But its always good natured (I promise!!) and we don't mean any harm. Come on, you'vd snickered at the girls wearing tube tops, mini skirts and 4 inch heels to a theme park!!! How can that be comfortable??!!

I knew at this point that our buzz had started to kick in. We couldn't stop saying Mo'Rockin! loudly and shaking our hips. We also couldn't stop laughing at the 40 year old belly dancer on stage. I've since seen pictures of other belly dancers, very pretty, with relatively trim bodies. I've heard that belly dancing is a very physically demanding thing (I've heard...I wouldn't know because the last thing you'll find me doing is something physically demanding.) but apparently this lady was only the fill in for when one of the regular girls was sick. She was saggy and flabby (once again, I'm not one to talk, but I'm not belly dancing in front of thousands of people in a skimpy outfit.) and we needed to leave so we wouldn't draw any more attention to ourselves.


We finished our beers quickly and came up to Japan. We stopped at the small booth and each got a Kirin. As we were drinking, we came up on the entertainment about to begin in front of the palace. There were large drums being moved into place, and tiny Japanese men and women, taking their places in front of said drums. When they started, their furious beating of the drums showed the muscles bulging in their arms, and we stood back in shock and wonder. Then the beer started talking.

"Dude, I would pay to see her kick your butt," I said jokingly to Brian. "She so could!"

"Yeah yeah..." He laughed.

We had begun to annoy the others around us, who were calmly video taping the drum sessions.

We were silent for a few until Brian said under his breath, "MORTAL KOMBAT!!!"

My knees almost buckled as I laughed, and I knew from the increasingly angry stares we were receiving from people that it was time to take our leave.

Up next....

We try to maintain our composure and regain some responsibility...when fate rears its ugly head....

Getting trapped in Italy...

And the incident that is forever remembered as "The time Brian almost killed the German girl." No unsuspecting German girls were harmed during this outing!!

Stay Tuned!!

 

[Belle Amy]

When we last left our tipsy heroes, they were in Japan, giggling uncontrollably.

So, we left Japan, knowing we had aggravated anyone within a 10 yard radius, and hoping to be a bit more responsible...we're not completely rude, we do respect that people are on vacation with their children, so we tried to maintain some level of decorum...but people on vacation also have the right to get a little into their cups...drunk...and we were well on our way...

We ventured further, into America. Turns out, we had been spending just the right amount of time in a country since France, and we were catching all of the "shows" in each land just perfectly. America was no different.

Out of beer yet again, I felt a little strange purchasing a Bud Light. We were in America, yes I understand that, but this trip was supposed to be about trying new and unusual beer. But my only other option was to walk back to Japan or forward to Italy.

Bud Light, when I am too lazy to walk to another country, you will suffice....(I think I just came up with Bud Lights new slogan!!)


We chose to stand back behind the crowd. This was a conscious choice, knowing that if anything funny were to happen, we would be as far away from the action as possible. As the crowd built in front of us, we were satisfied with our choice, our full plastic glasses of Bud Light in hand, and we waited for the show to begin.

Roughly a dozen adorable children were chosen from the crowd to become "Sons and Daughters of the Revolution". It was a proud moment for the parents of these kids, and their cameras and camcorders were poised and ready to capture footage that would surely be used to embarrass the children in their teens. We snickered briefly at this thought, but maintained a respectable silence when the production finally began.

A man dressed in Revolutionary War style garb began the mock ceremony, reading from a rolled up scroll of parchment...we were mildly amused, and really found nothing so funny to laugh at.

Then, fate reared it's ugly head.

There we stood, attempting to be calm and sober (which is so hard to do when you are really pretty sloshed) and the Cast Member dressed in the period clothing led the children around the side of the crowd, around to the back of where everyone was standing...everyone including a shocked and bewildered us. We had decided to become a part of the background, out of sight of any main commotion...but it was not to be so...we now had front row seats to the madness...and the "Sons and Daughters of the Revolution" had a front row to our drunkeness....

Once we realized that the show was to be completed directly in front of us, we couldn't stop laughing....really, we could NOT stop laughing...it was too much for our intoxicated sensibilities...so we did our best to hold back the giggling so the Cast Member could continue with the ceremony....

But it wasn't continued until I made it clear that I had no clue what to do in front of the 12 or so 5-12 year olds standing in front of me...I did the only thing I could think of...

I raised my now half full Bud Light, and said "Cheers, kids!" with all the emotion I could muster...this did nothing for our attempts to remain stone faced and objective.

And of course, the show wasn't over...again the Cast Member began reading from the same parchment, something that I'm sure has a great historical relevance...but I don't remember...all I truely remember is the following few words...thanks to a member of the crowd, they will be forever ingrained in my mind...

Cast Member: "blah blah blah...and fidelity!"

Random Crowd Member, "and INFIDELITY!!!"

This, again, did nothing for our resolve to not laugh, so we gave in to the beast inside....we had to physically walk away from the whole process because we simply could not control our laughter....



We moved on to Italy, where I found something that captivated me for the next twenty minutes....

When they first wheeled out the living statue, I had an argument with Brian as to whether it was real or fake. The makeup and clothing transition is amazing, and I could not take my eyes away from the statue. We also argued about the sex of said statue, whether it was male of female, and I maintain that it was a guy. If only because I can admit (yes, a bit hesitantly) that I was just a bit attracted to the statue, in it's still glory.

So for the next twenty minutes or so, I watched as tourist after tourist walked up to the statue, and the statue did something funny or cute or absolutely hilarious for a picture...mens bald heads were rubbed, hats were taken and held far above the tourists reach, or arms were wrapped around said tourist, effectively trapping them....

I giggled the entire time, until I realized, quite belatedly, that I was out of beer. A beer cart in Italy later, I was now enjoying the sexy statue with a beer in hand...until it was time for the show to end, and I chugged my beer, knowing that I still was not drunk enough to step in front of the statue for a touristy picture...


We moved forward to Germany, and it was at this point when I was feeling quite tipsy. I decided that food was in order, and Biergarten was calling my name. We put our names in, and as luck would have it, we got seated relatively quickly. I could not for a second tell you what time it was, as alcohol erases time completely. I followed Brian, who followed the cute German hostess to our table, and I drunkenly whispered that I thought she was cute. The comment caught Brian off guard, and when he was looking over his shoulder questioningly at me, the hostess stopped in front of him to let other guests pass by, and he firmly ran into her.

We refer to it as "that time he almost killed the German girl." He blames me for saying something as mind numbing as I had, but I think he was just drunk and stumbling....love you honey!!

Regardless, we sat down, ordered the biggest beer they carried, which ended up being gianormus, and we partook in the buffet, which was also excellent. The stage show was great, very entertaining, featuring three guys playing ricola horns and an entire song played on a series of differently toned bells....definitely worth going back...

After finishing the monstrous Becks Dark, we wandered back onto the main drag of world showcase...it's at this point when things start getting just a little blurry. After the beer in Germany, I have a difficult time remembering anything until we get to Norway...I assume I bought a beer in China, only because my drunken self would not have skipped any chance to drink more...but the next beer I remember takes place in Norway, and involves little to no Brian interaction...

Brian decided that it was time for him to lay down. And really, he needed to lay down. We discussed this in great length, until we found a bench close to the lagoon, which I knew would be a perfect spot for Illuminations. Also, it was directly in front of the Norway beer cart, so the location was perfect for me. So he laid down on the bench, using the whole thing, and taking a well deserved nap. I, on the other hand, needed to get a fresh beer and tour the country of my ancestors, Norway.

First I went to the beer cart, ordering a Ringnes, and then wandering around the area. I didn't go on Maelstrom, fearing a passed out Brian would get kidnapped or taken away by the Epcot police, so I stayed around his general area. I toured the viking ship of my ancient people, and periodically checked on Bri-guy to make sure he didn't die of alcohol poisoning....and to mildly berate him on passing out....

I went off every so often, getting a lovely pastry from the Norweigian bakery and refilling my beer, but as time got closer to Illuminations, I rejoined Brian on the bench and he finally rallied (although not enough to drink any more) enough to wake up and join the living.

As Illuminations got closer, and the area got more crowded, I abandoned the bench and sat directly in front of the railing. I started a conversation with a nice elderly gentleman who was with his 5 or 6 year old grandchild and told him it was my first time seeing the fireworks show. He congratulated me, and told me I would love it.

Soon enough, the show started, and I did love it. Call it the beer talking, but it was absolutely breathtaking. Brian watched my face the entire time, touching my back gently, and I felt like a three year old seeing something amazing for the first time. I was so enamored by the whole thing, I was incredibly sad when it was over. But the experience lives on in my head. Even though I was very drunk (heehee), I still remember how it felt to see such Disney magic for the first time.

I don't recall walking out of the park...I vaguely remember thinking that I didn't conquer Mexico, but resolved to do so again next time. And the thought of next time brought warm fuzzy's to my stomach....



So that's it. That's the first time I attempted to drink at all the countries in World Showcase. It certainly was not the last, but I've formed some favorites around the lagoon and tend to remain in some countries more often. I have had such wonderful times at Disney, and walking around Epcot with my fiance with a beer in hand makes me so relaxed, there are no words for the pleasure I get just being there. Disney really is good for the soul!


Until the next Disney memory....

 

[LISAMWDW]

LMAO, great trip report! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Emmo]

Hilarious! Great report!

We tried this on our Honeymoon last June but failed after 2 drinks in Japan with dinner (cocktail and wine for me, Matt had cocktail and beer), Champagne (me) and lager (matt) in France, Pimms and lemonade (me) and half yard of lager (matt) in UK and a frozen Margarita each in Mexico with the fireworks! I don't think anything can prepare you for your first viewing can it?

Still next visit I feel we will start at a similar time to you and get an alcoholic drink in each pavaillion (hopefully). I did hear of ladies who tried to CHOCOLATE themselves around the world, I think you might need your mission space sick bag for that!

 

[JFrey4240]

Great trip report--I enjoyed reading it! My DH tried this two years ago and was doing fine until he ate a banana split at Beaches & Cream after Illuminations...then he was sick all night. So I guess the lesson is to avoid banana splits when drinking around the world!

 

[OhMari]

You sure have a good memory, lol, thanks for sharing.

 

[swummyh20]

I just found this, and I love it...

Reading it makes me even more excited to drink around the world!!!