Meeko's Walt Disney World Trip December 2003
After a morning in the Magic Kingdom, it was off to EPCOT where I would spend the rest of the day.
After a quick monorail ride from the TTC, I arrived at EPCOT around 12:30 pm. After an overcast and somewhat drizzly morning at the Magic Kingdom, the sun had finally come out to reveal a beautiful day. Now, however, the wind was stronger than ever, making the air seem twice as cold as it had been earlier in the day. Walking past Spaceship Earth on my way to Future World, the wind was so strong behind me that it seemed like it was pushing me into the park. Even the fountain was not working because the wind was so high. I continued through Future World and headed straight to World Showcase, resisting the urge to get a nice cold shot of Bevery at Ice Station Cool
.
I had planned on going to the United Kingdom first to get some lunch at Harry Ramsden Fish & Chips, but I decided to make a quick stop in Canada first. I had heard that the Brother Bear characters were appearing somewhere in the pavilion, but I wasnt sure where. I hadn't been to WDW since Brother bear had come out so Kienai and Koda were two characters that were pretty high on my priority list to find in the parks. I thought I had heard that they were in gardens outside Le Cellier, but I couldnt seem to find them. Thinking that perhaps they must have been on a break or something, I headed on my way to the UK. While walking past the rest of Canada, I noticed a sign that said the Brother Bear characters were appearing in the back of the pavilion. Guess I should read signs more often.
I headed to the very back of the pavilion and saw Kienai and Koda. I went to get their autographs, but as I was, Koda showed me that my new fat pen I bought that morning at the Wilderness Lodge gift shop was not working. I couldnt believe I had paid $3 for a pen that didnt even last 5 hours! I felt defiantly gypped, but luckily I had an extra pen on hand. I got my autographs and photo and then headed to the UK.
Lunch would be my first stop. As I arrived, at the pavilion, I could hear the World Showcase Players starting their show. I had expected that it would be their version of A Christmas Carol which is absolutely hilarious, but it turned out to be King Arthur instead. King Arthur is OK, but not what I had expected. As the show went on, I got some fish and chips and sat at one of the tables on the street. Very good food and very nice atmosphere since I was able to watch the Showcase Players while having lunch. It was still very windy though, even blowing my silverware away in the wind. Glad nobody was at any of those tables around me. After lunch, I headed to the back of the pavilions to look through some of the shops. In the back of the shop I managed to find Pooh and Eeyore coming into their character greeting area. I went and got a picture of them and also Mary Poppins who was nearby. Next, I went outside to look at the gardens before hearding on to the next pavilion.
I noticed some characters in the International Gateway so I made a quick stop there to meet Snow White and Dopey. Even though I had met Snow White earlier in the day at MK, I wanted to get Dopeys autograph. After Dopey signed my book, Snow White turned to me and said, Ive already signed your book, havent I? Surprised, I said yes. She responded that she thought she saw it in the book and asked if she could show Dopey. I gave her the book and she showed the signature to Dopey. Very cute. From across the water, I noticed Belle and the Beast all alone in a garden in France watching the Friendship Boats go by. I said goodbye to Snow White and Dopey and headed to France to see. It was still cool and Belle was wearing her winter cloak, which I had never seen her wearing before. Belle signed an autograph for them both (funny that 11 years after I first met them, Belle still hasnt taught him how to write. He must be a very slow learner) and I got a picture of them both together. Belle was so sweet. She even called me a Prince.
I continued throughout the pavilion looking around France. This is my favorite pavilion so I love to take the time to look around it. Not too much seemed to be going on entertainment-wise, but I just enjoy soaking up the atmosphere, listening to the music, and looking around the shops. After looking around the pavilion, I continued on to Italy.
As I arrived in Italy, the Masquerade was in full swing. I was surprised to see the performers out since I read online that they would not be performing that day. Evidently, they did not have the day off after all. The Masquerade is always a lot of fun to watch. I managed to get photos of all the performers and watch some of their shtick. The whole show really brings a lot of life into the pavilion. After that, I looked through all of the shops. Who can resist going in to smell all of the Italian chocolate? Next, I took a look around to take in some of the atmosphere of the pavilion before heading over to the American Adventure. After checking out some of the shops in the pavilion I headed into the rotunda.
It was just about time for American Vybe to start their show. I had just seen this group for the first time on my last trip and I was extremely impressed with them. Their Christmas set was just as good. A definite highlight would be their rendition of Santa Baby with Jennifer (anyone else remember back from the 1980s Mickey Mouce Club?) as the lead. She pulled a guy right out of the audience and sang it to him. Too funny! His wife and kids were teasing him the rest of the performance, and probably for the rest of the day. Plus she has such a great voice she does great on just about anything. After American Vybe left, the Voices of Liberty came in to do their Christmas set. I dont know how many times I must have heard them sing all of those songs year after year, but I still love them. At the ending the set with a Christmas song, they instead announced that they had a very special guest in the audience who turned out to be the brother-in-law of one of the Voices of Liberty. They announced that he was on leave from serving in Iraq which received a standing ovation. Then they sang a special song for him encouraging to have hope when he returns to Iraq. His brother-in-law that was in the group even had the solo in the song. All together, it was a very emotional performance. After the Voices finished their show, I left the pavilion and headed on to continue my World Showcase tour.
