Yes, Disney Buses are Dry
While DW and R were headed back to the room, the older kids and I were off to begin a busy, fun-filled afternoon!
We walked DW to the exit and then headed straight to Mission Space for another ride on the Green side. As much as the kids enjoyed it the first time and were looking forward to it, our second ride was a little less exciting. We boarded our cockpit, but before we took off there was a delay of a few minutes. B began to get scared and panic on us a bit, but thankfully they delay wasn’t too long and we were soon underway. She enjoyed the ride again, but just wasn’t happy with being locked in there and waiting.
Soon after our flight it was time to use our FP that I was able to get for TT. We headed in and designed our car. L wanted to go for power, but chose the supercharged engine instead of the plasma burner, just because it sounded cooler so we left a little bit of power on the table. We did manage to adequately kill our efficiency rating though.
The ride, as usual was a lot of fun!
When we finished our ride, I got on MDE to see if we could find something for Soarin later in the day. Fortunately, there were some FP available sometime around 5 PM so I grabbed them.
We were pretty much done on that side of the park, so we headed back across to the stroller, which was still parked at the Land parking area. I went to get our drinks. DW and I had a little conversation before our trip about the cups we were taking. She packed some metal bottles that the kids had from school. She thought they were insulated because they were metal.
I didn’t agree with her conclusion, and I'd questioned it before we left for our trip when L happened to be standing there.
When the kids went to grab their bottles, the water had heated to the point where they were literally too hot to even hold in your hand.
L made sure to remind DW that he needed an insulated water bottle approximately 500 times a day the rest of the trip.
Since their water was undrinkable, we drained DW’s bottle and mine before heading off in search of some Mickey ice cream bars.
After our snack, we decided to visit everyone’s favorite purple dragon on a ride that isn’t quite everyone’s favorite ride.
After being skunked we decided to ride through the Seas with Nemo. At this point, I really expected that we’d come back to do these things again later in the week. We had another half day in EPCOT scheduled when Mom and Dad got there and I thought DW would want to do some of these things with R so we didn’t spend too long in the aquarium.
While we were in there, DW texted and said she was at the bus stop waiting to come back.
I figured by the time she got there we might have time to do one more thing. We decided to go to the Land and ride Living with the Land quickly before we headed to the front of the park to meet DW.
As we were riding, I continued to get texts. I’m going to try to tell the story based on this chain of texts and I hope I can do it justice.
Finally got on the bus. They loaded a lady in an ECV and then she asked the bus driver to wait for her husband.
15 minutes later.
Husband is here. Also in an ECV. They’re loading him now.
About 10 minutes after that:
And now we're stopped along the road because somebody opened a beer on the bus.
After we reunited, I got the lowdown on the bus situation. Apparently there was a relatively large family. They sent momma out to wait for the bus. She was ECV number 1. She boarded and then made a bit fuss to the bus driver about waiting for her husband (ECV 2). But it wasn't just him. There was a group of about 6 that came out with him. One of them apparently got a little too thirsty and couldn't wait until they got to EPCOT. He cracked a cold one open on the bus. The bus driver heard/saw the beer being opened and immediately pulled over to the side of the road and made him get out and dump the beer out along the side of the road.
This is the one time I almost wished I had been on the bus instead of in the park. I didn't believe her and I told her as much, but that was her story and she stuck to it.
So as you can see... The bus service and fellow guests at CBR were just a treat. All told, between her wait for the bus and the delays caused by other guests, I don’t remember how long it took her, but we had plenty of time to ride Living with the Land, go to the restroom, get more ice water, and walk to the front of the park and sit around waiting on them to get there.
As for operation nap for R... total fail. Didn’t fall asleep in the room or on the bus.
When they got back it was time to ride Soarin. I sent DW and the kids first and we grabbed RS. I waited with R and having missed out on napping he was a handful to keep entertained. The FP line was quite a long wait too. I was waiting with R for about 45 minutes by the time they waited, rode and made it back out.
As I mentioned in the PTR Soarin was a ride we decided we’d be ok skipping if we couldn’t make all the top tier attractions work.
Unpopular opinion, but I’ve never been a huge fan of it. The transitions from scene to scene even in the original made it hard for me to really buy into the feeling of flying and the new version with it’s over use of CGI and curved landmarks is just bad. It was always a ride that we do, but it just hasn’t ever really been my favorite.
So needless to say, after waiting as long as I did for them to get back, I asked the older kids if they really wanted to ride it again or if they were ok with just once. They were fine with once, and we were hungry so it was time to cross EPCOT once again and go to Mexico!
We always enjoy going to La Cantina to get some nachos. As I mentioned when we ate at Pecos Bill’s La Cantina nachos are just a little more flavorful in my opinion and we just really like them. It’s a go-to for us anytime we’re in the World Showcase. Also, since we were on the dining plan, DW and I decided to get Margaritas with our dinners. I don’t remember what the kids got, but I’m sure it was some combination of chicken tenders and mac & cheese.
The restaurant was pretty busy and seating was packed. We couldn’t find a table that was big enough with enough seats for all 5 of us. DW managed to find a round table with 3 chairs around it and a small table on a railing with 2 seats that was close by. I ended up sitting at the 2 seater with R.
After dinner it was time for the one thing we can’t skip if we’re in Mexico. It was obviously time to ride It’s a Small Mexico.
And you can’t just ride it once.
No.
Our kids love this ride and it’s always nice to at least have one ride that allows for an immediate re-ride when the kids get off and ask to do it again. And on top of that, hearing R say “Where’s Donald? There he is!” several different times through the ride as he figured out the storyline was a lot of fun.
Since it was shockingly a walk on we ended up riding it 3 times while we were there.
We got out and I headed straight for La Cava for another margarita. I don’t remember why, but DW didn’t want one of theirs, but there was a margarita at the stand outside she wanted. I was overruled so we headed out. She got her margarita and I had her get one for me as well. I don’t remember which one it was, but it was a cold drink so it was fine.
We headed on around WS just taking a leisurely stroll.
There wasn’t anything we really were trying to do, but we just wanted to maybe have a snack or 2 as we felt the urge and DW and I wanted to try a few drinks. We got to Germany and the kids stopped to chase some ducks around. DW headed in to Karamell Kuche to get her caramel corn and I stopped by the beer cart to get a Schoefferhofer.
We enjoyed our snacks while the kids played and R became hypnotized by the trains.
It was quite an undertaking to get him away from there. I’m not sure how long we stayed there watching the trains, but he was running back and forth along the walkway in the middle of the train set watching them and really having a lot of fun with it.
We saw a bit of the Guardians of the Galaxy show as we walked past. We had planned to try to watch it at some point, but figured we’d come back on our next EPCOT day to see the whole thing so we didn’t linger very long.
We got to Japan and stopped to take in some scenery and get some Kakigori for the kids.
When we got to France, DW and I got a couple of the slushes to try. We got one of each and DW determined that the Grey Goose Citron Lemon slush is the best thing in all of World Showcase... even superior to her beloved margaritas.
We made our way on around WS and planned to watch Illuminations on our next EPCOT day with Mom and Dad so we were planning to get on the bus before the mad rush after closing time. The kids had been grumbling a little bit because we’d been wandering around WS and not riding anything so I asked them if they wanted to use the RS pass on Soarin.
It was about 8:45 when we got there so the FP line was virtually empty. We basically walked right on so it was definitely much better than it would have been if we’d tried to use the RS when we were there earlier.
We walked out of the Land and headed to the exit as the fireworks were going off for Illuminations. I high fived L and B and told them they did a good job that day. We managed to spend all day in EPCOT from Rope Drop to closing time! They did a lot of walking that day, and frankly, they were very well behaved. There wasn’t much in the way of whining or complaining from either of them so I wanted to make a big deal about it to let them know we appreciated their good attitudes and behavior.
Our bus ride back was kind of uneventful... There was a bit of a wait and the bus was crowded. I guess that much is typical. But we made it back to the room and got settled in for the night without any excitement.
It's a shame that your ride through couldn't be the relaxed break it should have been. And who knows what the new version will be like....
That picture of R is the best!
I love it! I don't hate FEA, but the whole layout of it just makes it hard to forget Maelstrom. 
