Second day at WDW today. Visited Epcot again to enjoy more of the Food & Wine Festival.
How do you tell your brain that it is OK to sleep in at WDW? I wish I knew because I woke up at 7:00 am and was WIDE awake. Being at the Yacht Club when Epcot doesn’t open until 11:00, it would have been fine to sleep past 9:00. At home this would not have been a problem, lol.
Entered Epcot via the IG just before 11:00, and headed around the back side of the lagoon. There were very few people on the promenade and no lines at all at the food booths for at least the first hour. For some time, I felt like the only guest in the Japan pavilion. It was wonderful to be able to simply explore and get as many pictures as I wanted without blocking walkways or bothering anyone. Japan is truly a gorgeous pavilion!
Grabbed a bite at Japan, then Germany, where there were many empty picnic tables right up by the lagoon. It was a great place to do some messaging and get caught up with everyone at home. There may or may not have been some “empty Epcot” pics shared.
I continued around the Lagoon and where the line to Frozen was already stretching to the promenade. So that’s where all the people were! At 12:15 there was no wait to get in the Mexico pyramid. Noticed as I entered that there was NO LINE at La Cava (a first that I’ve seen), but since drinks aren’t allowed on the boat ride, I reluctantly passed and went to visit the Three Caballeros, which was a walk-on. By the time I exited, the line at La Cava was a few people deep. On a non-Covid day this would have been a boon, but today I was ready to get outside. Luckily, there was only one person In line at La Choza, and a Cucumber Margarita was secured in short order. Grabbed a picnic table behind the East side Kiosk shop, and was the only person in that whole area for about 15 minutes. Eventually the secret was discovered, so I finished my drink and headed over to Future World.
Nemo was a walk-on just before 1:00, but the Seabase was crowded enough that it was difficult to maintain 6+ feet of distancing around the exhibits, even as a solo. Maybe I will return and do this first thing Thursday morning.
Headed to Spaceship Earth, which had a bit of a line, but the CM said they were cleaning and would be done in five minutes. The line was outside and very well spaced, so I just queued up. Never felt uncomfortable. Here’s a pic:
You may not be able to tell, but there are a couple of empty rows between each open queue lane, keeping everyone far enough apart. Once the line started moving it was less than five minutes to boarding, and the vehicle was nice and newly-cleaned. It was GREAT to see SE again - I thought that when we went in February it would be the last time before the “reimagining.”
After that, I headed over to Imagination and walked on to visit Figment. Not sure why, but I enjoyed this ride much more than usual - maybe because I was not worried about time or what else I could have been doing. It’s so much more relaxing not having to worry about FastPasses!
By then there were more people in the park. For those of you who keep track of stroller parking, this is what it looked like in Future World west around 2:00 today:
Headed back into World Showcase and decided to do my own “Tour de Lobster.” Tried the Lobster tail at Citrus Blossom (no line), the Lobster Mac-n-Cheese at World Showplace (no line) and the Lobster Roll at Hops & Barley (again no line). The Mac-n-Cheese was the winner, with the Hops-n-Barley coming in second, and Citrus Blossom a disappointing third. Loved Carol the pianist, who was playing at World Showplace, and wished I could have stayed longer to listen but was trying to limit my indoor time. Tables at World Showplace were only about 35-40% filled so distancing was all right there.
Along the way, I Grabbed a Bass Ale from the Rose & Crown stand and enjoyed it in the totally empty courtyard where British Revolution used to play. I shed a silent tear that they are no longer there.
By 4:00 the Promenade was busier, and some popular food booths, like Canada, had lines of 5-10 people. Along the main walkway, it was sometimes hard to avoid passing closer than 6 feet to people, but other times it was completely clear. I am accustomed to passing people while walking at home, and since this was outside, only momentary, and almost everyone was masked, it did not feel uncomfortable to me.
Spent the rest of the day wandering WS, grabbing a bite or a drink here and there, and taking a ton of great pictures that I normally couldn’t due to the crowds. It’s great to notice so many new things, even after almost 30 trips to WDW. This one truly is unique! Not having to fight crowds made it pleasant to stay in the park from open to close, even on a hot September day.
And once again, the weather surprised by not raining despite the forecast! Tomorrow is Animal Kingdom, we’ll see if the luck holds out.