Day 2 - Defying Gravity Hair and character hopping
Again way before the alarms go our jetlag wakes us up. Same routine, shower, dress, snacks & refillables for breakfast and off to the bus to go to Epcot, to our first character day!
The plan: Future World to 11 and then character hunting
FP: Mission Space (9:20), Soarin (10:20), Spaceship Earth (6:50, would turn into 7:50)
ADR: Biergarten (5:45)
Planning all characters was a tough task, all the different times they meet and hopping back & forth couldn’t be avoided. This is what I came up with and what worked out very well. I had thought we wouldn’t make it, but we were ones of the first in line at most characters.
Belle: 11:00
Mary Poppins: 11:00
Alice: 11:30
Lunch in Morocco (if we were in the mood for Fish & Chips, we would have lunch in UK)
Aurora: 12:30
Aladdin & Jasmin: 12:45
Snow White: 1:30
Mulan: 2:00
We are at the bus stop a little before 8, first in line and about half an hour later we are through the bag check and facing low crowds at the gates.
Nikki had discovered in MK that there were more buttons! The pins were not the best idea, she lost the little Cogsworth one.
And also little after 8:30 the gates are open and before we go to our first destination we had to take some Photopass pictures.
Nikki tried to lift Spaceship Earth, but even Tink couldn’t help to get it right.
Half of the crowds went in the direction of Soarin, the other half to Mission Space/Test Track. We were stopped till about 8:55, when we ‘walked’ all together with the CMs in the direction of Test Track. Being one of the first to get on the ride I didn't see much of the queue, but it looked interesting.
I had never done this ride, it was closed for refurbishment on my previous trip. I had done the Cars-version in DL in November, which had an amazing inside section, but at the same time I didn’t really understand what all the fuss was about.
I really like the design part of this ride. This makes the ride a little different each time you ride. I had an engineer with me, with a passion for maximizing energy and other stuff. So no supercar for us, but a tiny efficient Smart Car
And yes, we were the most efficient model in our car. That's the only thing we won
My hair is defying gravity.
We walk back to Innoventions to take a turn to on Sum of All Thrills, one of my favorite rides in the entire World. It said 15 minutes, but we were in almost immediately to watch the video. Unfortunately I do not have the card with the ride we designed, Nikki has it, but it was a tame version, called ‘Infinite Mountain’. We will do better next time! If it wasn’t for the low capacity, I would do it more than once.
Back to Mission Space, our FP was valid. We could walk ride in and there were 5 other people with us, 1 group of four and a single rider who was paired with us. So we were on space ranger short. But we landed safely, flying without a problem. As neither of us loves simulators, we only did it once. Just to say we did it.
Most important things on this side are done, on to the other side to the Land! We stop to meet Tink in front of the fountain. (Only noticing now how white my legs were!)
We still have time before our Soarin’ FP starts, and Living with the Land has no waiting time, so we sit back and relax and learn stuff.
Standby for Soarin when we got in at 10:30 was about 20 minutes, so was a FP necessary at this time? Maybe not, but it saved us 20 minutes. And after Patrick’s instructions we fly over California, second row. It’s a nice ride, but not one of my favorites, I am looking forward to the new movies. I hope they will leave out the hard cuts the current movie has. I want to go smoothly from one scene to the next, not that you blink and you are completely somewhere else.
When we get out we slowly walk to World Showcase and arrive there at 11. But they haven’t opened yet.
I call this photo: “The lonely cleaner”
And the first stop of the day is the pretty Belle. We are first in line when she comes out.
She was pretty, but kinda dull. Or just not good at improv. I own exactly one Disney shirt and that’s this one, bought for this trip to have something to give characters a start. I have Nikki to do the weird conversations, and usually I just get my picture taken. I wanted to see if I could get some more out of it.
My shirt says “Run like Gaston just proposed to you”, I bought it on Redbubble.com. I also had seen it at Disney during marathons. I love it. There are so many things a character like Belle could say about a phrase like this. Belle read it, Belle stared at it and then all Belle said was: ‘oh, that’s nice, let’s take a picture’. I almost thought out loud: That’s it? 20 Euro well spent!
Next stop is back to the UK to meet the practically perfect Mary Poppins! Her set should start at 11:00 as well (it’s 11:05), but we take time for more Photopass pictures! We have a lot of fun with Cindy-the Photopass lady, she was very nice. She was standing in the burning sun, but that didn’t affect her sense of humor.
When we arrive in the UK, the sign says Mary will start meeting at 12:00… Mmm… that’s strange. I had planned everything so carefully, how can Disney do this to me! All those months of planning!
Also Disney has scheduled a CM in training (for
Disneyland Shanghai) on her own near the sign. We ask her some questions about if Mary will be out or not at 11:00, where exactly she will meet. To all these she has to answer that she doesn’t know. Luckily she leaves to get another CM, who answers all our questions. We decide to hang around and wait for Alice who will come out at 11:30.
We are third in line when we are done taking pictures. Alice comes out and was absolutely adorable. The first group in line was a mother with a (2 or) 3 year old, also named Alice. They had so much fun! This Alice was incredibly chatty and all over the place, as if she had too much coffee! All I remember about our conversation was the color blue and painting the roses blue. I mainly focused on whether or not she would breathe between sentences. The answer: No, she wouldn't.
Nikki’s Mickey ears have stars on it, the story is, they are wishes and Nikki makes those wishes come true. Therefore Alice want to have a wish. But as she didn’t have anything to wish for, Nikki couldn’t. Poor Alice.
That was a fun meet, especially as I never considered Alice one of my favourite characters.
On to deserted Morocco for lunch!
Lunch at Tangierine Café, it got good reviews and I must say: I agree!
There is a large Moroccan community in the Netherlands so everything on the menu was familiar to me. I chose the Chicken Platter, the couscous, humus, bread, chicken everything tasted good. There was only too much of it. It was only day 2 and I seriously started to wonder how I ever did the Deluxe Dining Plan three years ago, then I had TS for lunch and dinner, 3 courses each. And now I could hardly finish this plate.
Nikki had the lamb platter, also got positive reviews.
I hardly tasted the baklava, too much food!
Let’s hop back to deserted France for the 2nd visit to the Princess Aurora.
Including this picture to show what she signed. Nikki’s drawing of Phillip without his shirt. Which caused only one 'Oh My Goodness'. Also only noticing now that Aurora is the only signing with her title ‘Princess Aurora’, and is also the only princess listed on the Times Guide with her title, the others are ‘just’ Snow White, Jasmine or Belle (as we never saw the wedding, Belle's title is debatable
). Aurora must be really proud of that title. She was pretty and nice, but when we counted how many of Aurora's friends we met, we kept forgetting her. So she would be 'Forgotten Aurora'.
But shirtless Phillip or no shirtless Phillip, we have to go back to Agrabah for meeting a streetrat and a princess!
To be continued.
Must be a last minute switch of CMs to keep IJ going, but still…
Candy was only for the children. *pout*
