"Mom, My Wish Came True!" Our best-trip-ever-week-before-Thanksgiving '09 TR!

[ShannonMB]

DAY 2 -- EPCOT, cont.

After Soarin', we left the Land Pavillion and headed over to Nemo. We for sure wanted to do Living With the Land, but we also had plans for lunch at Sunshine Seasons, and it wasn't lunch time yet. So off to Nemo we went in the meantime.

I think Nemo's cute. I love the jellyfish. I tried to take a pic of them without the flash.

I'm not delighted by my Bruce's mouth pic this time. It was amazing to me how uncool the whole situation was. Usually it's like a little line, and everyone waits to get into the mouth and let the parent take the pic. This time, kids kept pushing their way in front of Lily, even parents were bolting in front of her to put their kids in front of her. Finally, I said, loudly, "Okay Lily, you're next IN LINE", and she got up there. I swear people were acting more like that on this trip than when we've gone during crowds. Or maybe it just annoyed me more because there were NO crowds and it was so stupid to be pushing in front of anyone. Anyway, here was our best try...

We don't care much for Turtle Talk, so we passed by Crush and headed back over to the Land. I took a couple more obligatory pics...

Living With the Land

I SO love this ride!!! I really love the beginning part where you go through all the climates, including the farm house. SO CUTE!!! Then the greenhouse part is interesting, too. My pics aren't of the cutest, coolest stuff, because I felt like I kept missing the stuff I wanted to snap. Oh well, a photographer, I'm NOT!

So after the ride, it was 11ish, so time to eat lunch at Sunshine Seasons! I swear the meals at Disney are every bit as much of an attraction to me as the rides! Which I guess explains why I'm Pooh-sized, huh? My niece tells me, "Shannon, you're such a fat kid!" when I get all excited about food. Anyway, I think everyone had just had snacks of some sort for breakfast this day, knowing we'd have an early lunch. Here's the grub!

I had ginger mongolian beef and Lily had sweet and sour chicken from the Asian section. Lily hated hers, mine was quite tasty.

My mom had spicy cashew chicken with lo mein. Didn't care for the chicken.

Billy had the cashew chicken also, but with broccoli and steamed rice. Billy liked it better than Mom did.

Janie had the tofu bowl, and Andy had the pork chop, rice, and mashed potatos from the rotisserie section. Janie thought hers was good, but not worth the price if she had paid OOP (but luckily, we didn't!), and Andy RAVED about his meal!

Separate pics of the desserts (close-ups!)

My butterfinger cheesecake -- mmmmmmMMM!

Andy's apple pie flan thingy. This was great also!!!

Mom's creme brulee -- very good.

Janie's strawberry shortcake -- always yummy!

For some reason, I didn't get a close-up of Billy's Asian chocolate cake, but it was really good and you can see a little pic of it on his tray. He didn't like that certain "spice" it has to it, but I love it.

Also didn't get a close-up of Lily's grapes -- GREAT kid dessert , but we all shared everything anyway. I guess I give them kudos for TRYING to get some fruits/veggies into the kids, but c'mon, I have a hunk of cheesecake and she's supposed to be happy with grapes?

 

[ShannonMB]

EPCOT

Next stop, Club Cool! First we stopped to get Lily a pretzel since she didn't like her lunch. She LOVED this, but carried half of it in her backpack for the rest of the week, I think!

We also took a couple pics of us at the fountain in front of Journey into Imagination...

Okay, we finally got to Club Cool!

Lily, Mom, and I are the only ones who had tried the Beverly, so we were anxious to get some pics of the others' reactions to it! I LOVE Beverly pics!!!

Okay, here's Billy trying it.

We were surprised by his lack of reaction. Then we discovered that his dispenser was out of syrup and it was basically just soda water. Well no wonder -- let's find some REAL Beverly!!!

There's always ONE in the bunch -- Andy LIKED it!

We tried all the different ones, and I really liked the watermelon one this time!

The group decided to head in to Mousegear to look around, and I figured I'd grab some fast passes for Test Track while they were in there, just in case that part of the park was more crowded by some chance. I got the FPs, and our return time was in 1/2 hour. The standby line said 30 minutes. So we mosey'd over to Mission Space in the meantime.

I wasn't about to ride Mission Space (I got the only time I rode it back in 2007 -- riding the wimpy side). Janie also doesn't care for this ride, so she, Lily and I waited for them (I think it took them about 15 minutes total to get on and off).

Here's us waiting...

Here are Janie and Lily having a deep discussion.

The thing was, Lily had agreed before our trip on 3 rides she was willing to try on this trip. I don't ask too much of her, but I do ask that she broaden her horizons a little bit each time, because she doesn't know what she's missing and can't really decide if she likes something or not if she hasn't tried it yet. So before our trip, she had fully agreed to ride Test Track, Goofy's Barnstormer, and Maelstrom on this trip. Now she was trying to back out of Test Track. I was insistent that since she agreed, she had to try it, especially since everyone else was going. Janie, in this pic, was telling her that if she went on it and it was too scary, that she (Janie) would ride Tower of Terror. (Janie had been on ToT in 2007 and swore she'd never ride it again!). Finally, Lily agreed to give it a try IF Janie made the deal.

Soooo...

First I will say that the line time was totally wrong -- the FP line was longer than standby! It looked like a stand-by walk on!

Second, I had never been on Test Track before, and I was under the impression that it was just a fast car going around a circle on a track. Well, no, that's NOT all it is!!!! I actually screamed a couple times on this ride, I thought it was pretty dang intense!!! Lily screamed bloody murder at the part where the truck almost hits you and when you break through the wall and are outside. I mean SCREAMED!!! After we got off, Janie was like, "I'm so sorry I talked you in to that, it was much scarier than I remembered!" Well, the deal was done, and now Janie was stressing that she would DEFINITELY be riding ToT the next day at HS!!!!

After a couple-minute recovery period, here's the little one posing with a prop from the ride she conquered!

She kinda admits now that she was proud to have ridden it and MIGHT ride it again on our next trip!

After Test Track, Mom, Billy, and Andy headed back over to Mission Space to ride the more intense side since they all liked the mild side so much. Lily, Janie, and I decided to head over in the direction of World Showcase!!!

 

[praisehisname]

I guess I give them kudos for TRYING to get some fruits/veggies into the kids, but c'mon, I have a hunk of cheesecake and she's supposed to be happy with grapes?

I couldn't agree more. Even though it costs more, I'm glad my kids are "adults" now. Last trip my youngest DD had to order off the kids' menu, and it was very frustrating for her.

Well, the deal was done, and now Janie was stressing that she would DEFINITELY be riding ToT the next day at HS!!!!

Can't wait to hear how this goes!

 

[mcdowelj]

Is great! After working with Lily on our own trip report, I have a much better appreciation of how hard it is! It's way more fun to read one than to make one! We still have so much to do on ours!
I love your pics of everyone trying the Beverly. I didn't have any on my camera so when I saw yours, I was cracking up!

I do feel bad for talking Lily into going on Test Track. It was definitely worse than I remembered! But I got mine in the end. I won't ruin it with the details here - I can't wait for that part of your trip report. Too bad you didn't get a pic!

 

[ShannonMB]

I couldn't agree more. Even though it costs more, I'm glad my kids are "adults" now. Last trip my youngest DD had to order off the kids' menu, and it was very frustrating for her.

If we go the same week next year, Lily will be a month shy of 10 years old. I'm going to have to give some consideration to bumping her up to adult (I think you can do that if you pay for them as an adult for tickets, etc). I don't know, maybe 1 more year of sharing. Have to give it some thought.

Can't wait to hear how this goes!

 

[ShannonMB]

Is great! After working with Lily on our own trip report, I have a much better appreciation of how hard it is! It's way more fun to read one than to make one! We still have so much to do on ours!
I love your pics of everyone trying the Beverly. I didn't have any on my camera so when I saw yours, I was cracking up!

I do feel bad for talking Lily into going on Test Track. It was definitely worse than I remembered! But I got mine in the end. I won't ruin it with the details here - I can't wait for that part of your trip report. Too bad you didn't get a pic!

WHY didn't I take one??

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hey Shannon! Sorry I haven't been around in a few days. We went on a Thanksgiving mini-vacation.

I would love to go to Epcot and have the short wait times you guys had. The wait time for Soarin' in August was 130 minutes by lunch time.

Speaking of lunch time, thanks for taking pictures of your food. I never take pictures of food anywhere we go.....except for Disney food.

I'm glad that Lily decided to ride Test Track. I know that it was a bit scary to her but it's a fun ride.

 

[ShannonMB]

EPCOT

When I left off, Carol, Andy, and Billy were off to ride the orange side of Mission Space, since they all enjoyed Green so much. To each his own! I had told everyone that the World Showcase part of Epcot was going to be all about character stalking for Lil and me, because that's what we like best there. So everyone was free to do the "World" however they wanted. As it turned out, we all ended up pretty much staying together!

So the 3 girls headed to World Showcase, moseying slowly so the others could catch up if they wanted. Janie didn't want her *fiance* to get lost or anything! Right at the entrance to WS, we saw this guy...

We didn't know who it was, but I guess it was Max (Goofy's little bro?) Lily was excited all the same!

We continued on by way of Canada. We got some frozen lemonades on the way. I LOVE those things!!!!

Then a few pics in the UK..

We decided to find a bench and chill for a few while waiting for the others to catch up. They were calling, asking where we were, so I figured they must want to hang with us after all!

So, we are sitting on a bench right next to the bridge at International Gateway, when I spy Marie from Aristocats over across the bridge in France. I showed her to Lily, and she was all about it. She RAN over there, and I walked as fast as I could to keep up, while Janie waited for the others.

What a darling little kitty she was! Lily loved her!

So just after Lily met Marie, Janie called from the UK side of the bridge to tell us Mary Poppins was out. So Lily jetted back across the bridge and found Janie and Mary P. I don't have any pics of that, because I waited in France for them. You could go check out her and Lily's TR for those! Janie did tell me that Mary Poppins was really cute, and when a kid tried to get in front of Lily, Mary told them to mind their manners like Lily was doing and wait their turn. Janie loved that!!!

So by that time, the rest of the gang had caught up with Jan and Lily, so they all crossed the bridge over to where I was in France.

I asked a CM where the characters usually hang out in France, and he pointed us to where Belle in the blue dress was!

The people in line just in front of us told me that the Beast was actually due to join Belle at 2:30pm. It was 2:25!!!! Was my dream of meeting the Beast actually going to come true??? Well, 2:30pm came and went, and someone asked where the Beast was, and the CM said he had an emergency at the castle and couldn't be back that day. BOOOO! When I meet that hairy fella some day, it's going to be a big deal!!! Lily likes to make fun of me for saying the Beast is *hot*. Belle was so sweet and lovely, really just WAS Belle. Loved her!

So about this time, is I think when my mom decided that *drinking* around the World was going to be HER favorite way to do World Showcase. Andy thought that sounded like a great idea, I guess, because the 2 of them show up over by Belle with Grey Goose Slushies...

This pic cracks me up, because I told my mom, "I need a pic and a sip", and she thought I said a "pic OF a sip". I got my pic, then I got a sip. Really, really yummy lemony. Another DIS favorite under my belt!!!

Lily and I headed back over by the maze hedge, which is where the CM earlier had told us Aurora sometimes appears, but Lily only wanted to wait 5 minutes, and she never showed up. We did pretty well with characters this day, but last trip it just seemed like everywhere we turned, we were getting in character lines. This trip it seemed like everywhere we turned, we were getting in character lines that had just been closed before we got there. Luck of the draw, and we didn't have it this trip. But we know MUCH better than to let it detract from our magic!!!!

 

[ShannonMB]

cont..

Well, while we were waiting our 5 minutes to see if Aurora would show up, Janie called from the outskirts of Morocco to tell us that Jasmine and Aladdin were heading out!

Now I was really happy to hear that Jaz and Aladdin were out, because Andy absolutely LOVES Jasmine (what guy doesn't? ), and Janie was really hoping that he would get to meet her on this trip.

The partners in crime found themselves their drink in Morocco. It was called *The Sultan*. I must say, it was super delicious, had a coconutty flavor.

I might add that Billy was drinking around the World as well, but he was trying beers from all the countries. I didn't bother to get pics of those, but I'm sure he enjoyed them!

Christmas tree from across the lagoon.

WooHOO, time for Japan! Lots of fun stuff in Japan!!

First stop, picking a pearl -- one of Lily's absolute FAVORITE things to do at EPCOT.

Lily got a most-lovely pinkish colored pearl, 7 1/4 mm. This was the 2nd pinkish pearl she's gotten -- she has a knack for picking them! We didn't get this one set, she already got a semi-expensive necklace last trip. So we'll just keep our eye out for a nice cage or something somewhere.

Next stop, kaki gori!!! LOVE it, especially the melon (green). The other flavors were strawberry and tangerine. These are head and shoulders above a regular snowcone -- the flavors are so much better. And SOO refreshing!

And look, how convenient -- the drinkers found their Japanese libation at the kaki gori stand -- a hot sake!

I gave this one a try, but I could barely get it past my nose with the fumes it was giving off! I didn't care for it.

 

[ShannonMB]

Hey Shannon! Sorry I haven't been around in a few days. We went on a Thanksgiving mini-vacation.

I would love to go to Epcot and have the short wait times you guys had. The wait time for Soarin' in August was 130 minutes by lunch time.

Speaking of lunch time, thanks for taking pictures of your food. I never take pictures of food anywhere we go.....except for Disney food.

I'm glad that Lily decided to ride Test Track. I know that it was a bit scary to her but it's a fun ride.

I hope you had a happy, fun holiday!! I ended up working the whole thing, but Darren made me a turkey instead of just leftovers from his parents' (SO sweet of him), so I've been having turkey for days. Yum!

I have never even dreamed of wait times like we had our whole week -- just wait till you see. You will probably want to come with us the same week next year!!! And I only take pics of food at Disney, too. Stuff that would seem weird other places just has a way of being fine to do at Disney! Actually, though, now that I think about it, I might start taking food pics on other vacations, too! Eating out is definitely part of the fun!

Lily was very scared of Test Track, but I'm really proud of her for riding it. I know if she keeps stepping a little bit out of her comfort zone each time, she'll be able to have fun on all the rides (well, at least most)! She did say it was too scary, but she said she might do it again next year because she'll be 9.

Thanks for staying tuned, Angie!!!

 

[ShannonMB]

EPCOT

Wow, this is a long EPCOT day, huh?!!! We are really having a good time!!!

So last I left off, we were finishing up our sake and kaki gori in Japan. It was probably at least 3pm by now, and we had dinner at 5:30pm, but Lily saw the funnel cake stand over in America, and her aunt Janie was happy to oblige her...

Man are these things AWESOME!!! Janie had a less than magical moment when they were waiting to get the funnel cake. An older lady in a wheelchair being pushed by her son (?), jumped out of her wheelchair and more or less pushed Lily out of the way to get her funnel cake. Her son said, I think they were here first, and the lady said, "WE GOT HERE AT THE SAME TIME!" (which wasn't true), but oh well, Janie let the crazy person go first. I was kinda surprised by her composure, because Janie's known to have a little bit of a temper, and when it comes to Lily, the claws can really come out! Just goes to show how awesome and laid back we were all feeling! Just another example of people pushing and shoving when there was practically NO ONE to be in front of! We saw her wheeling by, looking quite smug, and I know Janie was p****d!

So we all shared the funnel cake (SOO good), and uncle Billy said he hadn't had one of those in probably over 20 years. 'Bout time, I say!!!

We didn't do much but breeze past America...

I took a pic of Mexico from across the lagoon. Cool!

We pretty much just breezed through Italy, too. But next trip I think I'm booking Tutto Italia. That place sounds so great from the reviews and pics I've seen!

Next up was Germany, and I have to tell you I have a fascination for the little village. So bear with me and these pics. I LOVE them!

I guess Andy is into glass (never knew that), so we hung around and looked at this cute stuff for a few also...

Then we saw this chick! I was hoping she'd be with Dopey, because Janie loves him and would have loved to meet him. Oh well, there's always next time!

 

[ShannonMB]

When we got to China, we caught the last few minutes of the amazing acrobats! No pics of that, sorry!

Then we played with the marionettes for a few...

When we got to Norway, Lily was acting a little scared that it was almost time for Maelstrom. I don't know where she got the idea that it is a scary ride, but she was nervous. She didn't put up a fuss about it, and she ended up enjoying it. This was my first time on it, too, and I thought it was very cute. I had heard on the DIS that the drop is similar to that on Pirates of the Carribean, but to me, the Maelstrom drop is a little steeper. At the end, we just walked right through the theater so we didn't have to watch the movie. Most of us just weren't in the mood, but Billy thought it was rude to the Nordes.

Billy lives in a kind-of hippie area of Seattle called Tremont, and he lives not far from the Tremont Troll -- a big troll statue that lives under a bridge. I think the Tremont Troll looks like this guy (though I've never seen it in person, just pics).

Well, since the ride pretty much drops you off at the Kringla bakery, I decided this was my chance to try the DIS-famous school bread (yeah, dinner right around the corner -- but I shared!). Man, I LOVED it!!!

This pic, weird how the grass is on the roof!

Okay, Mexico time! When we first arrived, we saw Donald as the Cabbalero! Aww! Donald Duck #1!

It was right around our 5:30pm ADR time, so we went ahead and checked in and were seated right away. Now I know this place gets slams in the reviews, but I have been dying to eat here since I first rode past on the boat ride. The atmosphere is just spectacular! I was anxious to see what OUR take would be on the food. I will say my pics here aren't great because of the lighting and I was feeling weird about the flash. But I DID flash a couple times.

First they brought the chips and salsa, and I can assure you they are house-made and fresh. I guess before the tequila bar they used to use tostitos and pace -- not anymore. The chips and salsa were very delicious! Here are some of our plates...

This was my sirloin with stuffed poblano pepper, rice, and fried plantains. My mom had the same thing. The steak was okay, the pepper had a great flavor but was a little too spicy for my taste, the rice was good, and the plantains very interesting!

Here was Lily's chicken and cheese quesadillas and rice. It looked more like tacos, but they were pretty good. I have had better quesadillas, for sure.

Used the flash this time on Billy's chicken mole. I also tasted this, and it was interesting, but I don't think I'd want to eat a whole serving of it.

I didn't take pics of Janie's vegetarian plate or Andy's chicken with cream sauce, but I did taste them both. Janie's was quite tasty, but Andy's was really, really good. I should have ordered that!! Granted, it was really spicy and I would have needed even more refills of my lemondade than I already got, but yum!

The service here was really, really great, we all agreed. Everyone was so nice, and our server, I think his name was Octavio, was very attentive and polite. When we first got there, I practically slammed down 2 lemonades (I was so thirsty from the park). When he brought my third, I told him "I promise I'll slow down, I was just really thirsty". He was very nice. My mom and I think Billy ordered margaritas. I wish I had been in the mood for one, because I really wanted to try the rajas one (with the blood orange). Oh well, something for next trip! Billy ended up giving his to Andy and Janie, I think -- he wasn't in the mood, either, I guess.

Dessert was weird here, is all I can say. Octavio recommended the white chocolate mousse with berries, so several of us got that, and the rest got the flan with Mexican caramel. Lily got a bowl of ice cream with a small churro on it! She was excited because she'd been wanting to try a churro ever since she watched the "Wolfs Dance Orlando" video on youtube (if you haven't seen it yet, go watch it, it's freakin' awesome!!!)

Here's my flan. When I first tasted it, I didn't really like it -- it's SO eggy! But after 3 or 4 bites I got kinda addicted to it. I still didn't finish it, but I think I liked it in the end.

The mousse/berry thing was the weirdest! It was a light, fluffy white mousse, but grainy and the flavor of sweet, but nothing else. Hard to describe, but no one cared much for it. The berries looked great, though.

Overall our group said the service and atmosphere were outstanding, the food was pretty good, and the desserts were weird! I would for sure go back, but I have many others at EPCOT I've yet to try.

After our meal, it was about 7:00 or so. Janie thought Andy would really enjoy Illuminations, and I said I didn't care if I saw it or not. Lily definitely wanted to head back to POFQ, so she, my mom, and I decided to leave, and the rest stayed. You'll have to check in on Janie's TR to see if they enjoyed it!!! It was quite chilly that evening, so Janie bought a blanket at the shop by the big Christmas tree or she wouldn't have made it.

On the way out, I snapped this pic...

...and Lily was super excited to find that Spaceship Earth was still open even though Future World was supposed to close at 7pm. (I had read previously on the DIS that they DO keep most of the popular rides in FW open past closing time, but wasn't sure if SE was one of them.

So we took one last ride on that (walk-on, of course!). This time Lily and I rode together.

One last picture on EPCOT day -- I LOVE the starry sidewalk!!!

The bus was there as we walked up, plenty of seats. Ahh, this is traveling in style! It was too chilly to swim, I think, so we just hung out till the rest got back, then went to bed.

So, was I right? Was that not the BEST EPCOT day?? No waits on the biggies in Future World, interesting and fun meals and tons of snacks, drinks to try, lots of characters, picking a pearl, beautiful weather!!! Some would say those of us who bailed on Illuminations missed out, but I felt like it was a complete and total success of a day!

Up next, Hollywood Studios!!!!

 

[DWGal210]

I am really enjoying your TR! How much fun is it that there was an engagement on your trip?! So very sweet!

It looks like you are all having a wonderful time. Can't wait to read more about it!

 

[nania]

Looks like Janie was pretty fond of Alladin as well.... I have a few close-ups of him myself... never met an Arab with such beautiful BLUE eyes......

 

[cbg1027]

What a great TR! I love all your photos....keep it coming!

 

[ShannonMB]

I am really enjoying your TR! How much fun is it that there was an engagement on your trip?! So very sweet!

It looks like you are all having a wonderful time. Can't wait to read more about it!

Thank you so much for coming over! This is so much fun for me to do, I love reliving such an awesome trip!

Looks like Janie was pretty fond of Alladin as well.... I have a few close-ups of him myself... never met an Arab with such beautiful BLUE eyes......

Yeah, they were both very sweet, too. All the characters we met this time were super adorable!

What a great TR! I love all your photos....keep it coming!

THANKS!!! It's so almost time for your trip!! Are you going to do a TR? Hope so!!!

 

[praisehisname]

That most definitely sounds like the perfect Epcot day! Especially the eating and drinking around the World!

 

[cbg1027]

THANKS!!! It's so almost time for your trip!! Are you going to do a TR? Hope so!!!

I'm in the middle of doing a TR and DR from my last trip still! Admittedly, there are only 6 weeks between the two trips.....but I'm trying to finish before I go on the next one!

I'll get around the a TR and DR for the one coming up. I have a sad little PTR for it, but I think it's pretty boring.

 

[meeko_33785]

Found your report and now I'm all caught up. Enjoying it so far.

Love the photos of French Quarter, especially the shot of the Christmas decorations. I'll be there in a few weeks and it's my first time staying there at Christmastime so I'm looking forward to seeing all of them.

Wow, what an way to end the first day- with an engagement!

Max is quite the character find. Hope that he's out when I'm at EPCOT too. Haven't seen him in years!

 

[ShannonMB]

I'm in the middle of doing a TR and DR from my last trip still! Admittedly, there are only 6 weeks between the two trips.....but I'm trying to finish before I go on the next one!

I'll get around the a TR and DR for the one coming up. I have a sad little PTR for it, but I think it's pretty boring.

I'll have to check out the ones you're still working on, then! I don't think I have yet! PTRs are always kinda boring to me, but it's definitely something to do to keep you pumped for the trip, huh? And a great way to put the plans in black and white.

Found your report and now I'm all caught up. Enjoying it so far.

Love the photos of French Quarter, especially the shot of the Christmas decorations. I'll be there in a few weeks and it's my first time staying there at Christmastime so I'm looking forward to seeing all of them.

Don't you just LOVE it there? I can't wait to go back -- I'm pretty sure at least our next trip or 2 will be there -- we are hooked!

Wow, what an way to end the first day- with an engagement!



Max is quite the character find. Hope that he's out when I'm at EPCOT too. Haven't seen him in years!

I'll have to tell Lily how RARE Max is -- she loves when she thinks she meets a "rare" character!!! Thanks for joining us, Meeko!!!