Day 5: Epcot, POFQ and Magic Kingdom
January 1st. Happy New Year !
We were up early and finished packing, then I called Luggage Assistance for the 300th time and made sure we could leave our luggage in the room and they would come get it and transfer it to POFQ.. For the 300th time I was told yes, no problem, just let the front desk know.
Okiedokie.
Left 2 enveloppes on the table,one for housekeeping (I left one every morning) and one for the luggage people. OK let's go, I want to do Soarin' today!
First stop, the front desk to check out. It was raining a little, and we had packed all our sweaters. While Grumpy was waiting in line to check out, I went to the gift shop. We'd seen Grumpy hoodies in the parks that DM loved, but hadnt been able to find one for her yet, even at Mouse Gear. YES they had it in the gift shop !! $59.50, ouch, well, it's her birthday ...
I tried to find one with Stitch or Donald for myself, but they didnt have my pooh size
I joined Grumpy in the line and gave her the hoodie. She loved it and put it on right away. The line was going slow and we saw our luggage being taken to the storage room. OK that's good, at least they didnt forget.
We got a cool CM at the front desk who gave us "1st Trip" buttons, checked out reservations, and just chatted with us. I forgot her name, but she was from Puerto Rico. She said she was sad we were leaving, but she knew we'd love French Quarter. We told her about Everest, which she said was her favorite ride. Yep, ours too. Especially when we're not in it.
She told us we had 4 TS left, 2 CS, and 8 snacks !!! We only used snacks twice so far, both for fruit bowls at the food court. I wanted to save them for something "more expensive" and now we had 8 we had no idea what to do with.
We waited for the bus to Epcot. The first one was already almost full when it came (with Sports & Music guests). Standing room only. Not gonna happen, let's just wait for the next one. We let people cram themselves into that almost full bus, we're the only ones not going in. Well, about 15 seconds after that bus left, another Epcot bus came. EMPTY. We had the bus all to ourselves! The driver told us to go straight to The Land as soon as we got there - NO, really ? And here I was, hoping to get FPs for Maelstrom!!
There was a long line to get into Epcot, and we had a nice conversation with a family from the Midwest. I also spotted a few lime green Baggalinis in the crowd, but didnt have the guts to go ask their owners if they were DISers.
We went straight to the Land. I told Grumpy to wait for me while I got FPs for Soarin. Got them, and saw that the standby line was only 35mns. So I called her and told her to get her grumpy butt here right away, we were going to be able to do it twice!!
The line went fast. We got to be in the 2nd row. I was soooo excited about this ride and LOVED IT ! It felt incredible, almost like if we were flying. My favorite part was the one above the ocean, and the fireworks at the end. Here's another ride when I couldnt stop myself from grinning the whole time. Just incredible. I was so happy to have FPs for seconds!
When we left the ride, Grumpy and I both agreed that this was the best ride we'd been on since we got here and that we couldnt wait to do it again. She went to the restrooms, and I bought her a Soarin' shirt. Hey, it's her birthday.
She was thirsty, so we went to Sunshine Seasons for drinks. I told her to use our snack credits. They actually gave us 1 OJ and 1 Gatorade for only 1 snack credit. Nice. One down, 7 to go.
I saw "Living with the Land" was right next door, and there was a Fastpass thing. We had 20mns left before we could get FPs again, so we sipped our drinks and waited. When it was time, I went to get the FPs.. only to see that the machines were covered and the wait was only 10mns.
What else could we do ? Get more FPs for Soarin', of course!!!!
Already time to go, our ADR at Le Cellier is at noon and we have to go to Canada for that. I booked that meal for Grumpy, who loves steak, especially if it's still moooing in her plate. I thought I would just pay OOP for myself and get a salad, but we had 4 TS left that would expire tonight, so we had to use them.
On our way out, I took a photo of Grumpy proudly showing off her new Grumpy hoodie :
The path to Le Cellier :
Inside Le Cellier :
Grumpy had the seasonal salmon and crab timbale appy, the petit filet - we asked for regular potatoes instead of mashed - and creme brulee. She wanted wine, but I asked her to get a smoothie too since it was included in the
DDP. I had the mussels (without the cheese sauce), the stir-fry beef with noodles, Moose and sour apple drink.
My moose ! It was so cute, I couldnt eat its face. Just the antlers and tongue
Grumpy said her steak was the best she's had in years, that it melted in her mouth, and that it took all she had not to lick the creme brulee dish.
I liked the mussels, and the stir-fry was good too. My first time eating red meat for a couple years.
That lunch came up to $103 !!!!! Yikes !! Now this was definitely a good use of the DDP.
On our way out, they were doing a Le Cellier trivia and Grumpy won a little thing that said she was a Le Cellier Trivia Winner. She immediately pinned it on her shirt. We went to shop in Canada, I wanted a stuffed moose, and people in the shop congratulated her on her "win". We spent $70 on stuffed animals in that shop. My moose is so cute, it's wearing skis and a "Canada" hooded sweatshirt. I called him Moosell.
(Tried to take a pic of him, but I cant find my memory cards.. maybe later!)
After Le Cellier, we toured the World Showcase a bit, and took some pictures :
It was about 2pm, and we wanted to use our Soarin' FPs and be at POFQ soon, since we had ADRs at MK that night and wanted time to relax a bit.
Back to The Land we went, and used our first set of FPs. This time was not as great as the first, maybe because we knew what to expect, and also because we were in the 3rd row and had dangling feet in front of us, and we could see the bottom of the screen. Still, it's Soarin, and we enjoyed it.
I convinced Grumpy to go check out Living with The Land, that had a 20mns wait. The line went really fast, I'd be surprised if we were in it for more than 10mns.
Living with the Land was a nice, quiet educational ride. I took a bunch of pics.
Check out this Mickey Head "Cinderella" pumpkin !!
We then went to ride Soarin' for the 3rd time, and this time we got to be in the FRONT ROW ! No feet ! It was awesome. I could do Soarin' all day long and never get bored (note to self : try that next time!).
Time to take the bus to Port Orleans. Check in took a while, because.. drumroll.. they couldnt find our luggage. We'd left ASMO at 9am, and saw our luggage being stored, it was now 4pm and they hadnt transferred it yet.
We had hoped to change before going to MK tonight, but it didnt happen.
Instead, we took a nap in our new room.
Before we went, I stopped at the food court to use our remaining CS and snacks. They expired at midnight, and we'd be at Magic Kingdom then. I got a lot of drinks, rice crispie treats, and chips. They let me trade each CS for 3 snacks. Not a great deal, but better than leaving then unused.
We both said WOW when we got in our room. Toto, I don't think we're at All Stars anymore.
YES ! TWO BEDS ! No more smelly-feet-snoring Grumpy, well not in my bed at least.
We waited, hoping to get our luggage before it was time to leave for MK. Next time we do a split stay, I'll remember to pack a change of clothes.
Off to MK we go, and straight to Liberty Tree for our ADR, with only a short stop to take a pic of the castle.
We werent too excited about Liberty Tree. Still full from Le Cellier, we really didnt feel like eating again. But we had to use those TS.
It turned out to be my most favorite meal of the trip. Mostly because of Chip & Dale !!
The character interaction was awesome. Goofy put his head on mine, from behind me, and suddenly I had whiskers in my face. Of course, I SCREAMED. Goofy didnt expect it, and couldnt stop laughing. It took him a while to get his composure back. We took a zillion pictures with the characters.
Chip & Dale were awesome. Grumpy didnt know them, and said to me, "Oh look, twin rats!". Chip was very hurt and cried, so she apologized. The characters came to our table THREE times. Minnie was a little rushed the first time, but better after that. Maybe she just had to go to the bathroom really bad.
Chip & Dale stole the show. I instantly regretted not booking Garden Grill. Next time, for sure.
Our waitress was Samira, and she was super nice. The food was OK. I didnt touch the meat, but Grumpy said it was good. The green beans, mashed potatoes & mac'n'cheese were my favorite food of the trip (I know, such finesse!). Grumpy liked the dessert (apple cobbler) and ate mine too.
After dinner, we had time before SpectroMagic. Country Bear Jamboree was a walk-on, so I suggested we go in.
I didnt have high expectations. I knew it was going to be lame. But I couldnt have imagined that level of lameness. We were cracking up, it was so bad. Oh I'm sure little kids like it. And it was better than doing nothing. That's about it.
(I have to break this post in 2 because there are too many images)
for my trip later this year.
THANK you so much!!! 
I read people on these boards saying EE is fine and it's not scary and I truly wonder what planet they're on. 
