mkluvsmickey
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2007
- Messages
- 3,990
We caught a bus back to Epcot around 4:00 or so I think. The bus was practically empty which was a nice change. First up when we got in the park was Spaceship Earth. Sam and I had ridden once since the refurbishment but it was during the soft opening and the picture thing wasnt working the way it was supposed to. I think my mom and I rode together and Sam and my dad rode together. We all enjoyed the ride and the changes other than the narration. I like the old narration better.
Here are some pictures we took as we entered Epcot:
We decided to split up next. My parents wanted to see the StormStruck in Innoventions and Sam and I had some characters to meet! The line was about a 30 minute wait for the characters but we wanted to wait anyway. We had a lot of fun meeting the characters and my parents enjoyed StormStruck.
I love Sam's face in this one:
Sam gets a kick out of the characters that sign on their noses:
We had three Test Track fast passes so we got three more and sent Sam with my parents to ride. My dad loves this ride as does Sam my Mom, not so much!
Dad, Mom and Sam on Test Track:
Finally it was time for some Food and Wine Festival! We decided to split up and meet up for Illuminations later. I knew my parents would probably want to do more sampling than Sam would and we had some shopping to do along with our sampling.
My parents walked all around World Showcase and enjoyed their time. This was my dads first F&WF and he is a cooking enthusiast so I knew hed enjoy it. It was a bit crowded probably because it was a Friday night. They sampled from Greece: Spanakopita and Greek Salad, America: New England Lobster Roll and Canada: Cheddar Cheese Soup and Moosehead Beer (for Dad). Im sure they tried some other things too but I cant remember. They also stopped to listen to whoever was playing in the America Gardens Theater that night.
Sam and I started in Mexico to ride one of our favorites Gran Fiesta Tour with the Three Caballeros. Sam and I both enjoy the Mexican pavilion and spent some time looking around.
We stopped at the India booth when I noticed they had Mango Mousse. Sam is not an adventurous eater at all but I knew she loved mango and wanted her to try something from the F&WF. We paid and then went to collect the mousse and the lady behind the counter asked Samantha if she wanted to be an honorary chef for the night! She took Sam behind the counter and gave her a chef hat and let her stand back there for a few minutes. Then they gave her an extra mousse when we left. She thought that was really cool! She ate the mousse but only liked the top part with the actual mangos in it.
Next up was China. I had promised her one of those stupid puppets the last time we were here so I was there to make good. She picked out a small panda one. We were trying to get it untangled before paying and then the lady behind the counter pulled a prepackaged one out from somewhere. I guess they dont actually sell the messed up ones on display thank goodness! I think the panda is still in the package and Sam hasnt even opened it!
I was hungry and the China options sounded good to me. I couldnt decide what to get but ended up with the Chicken Sha Cha which was fabulous!
We wondered our way around the world taking in the sites and seeing if anything else appealed to us. Some of the booths were so crowded that we didnt even try to get up close.
There was something in Ireland that sounded good to me some kind of potato pancake thing. I didnt like it at all though and ended up throwing it away.
Morocco was next. Sam had bought an instrument here last year that my dog Gomer ate. So, I had promised her Id replace it. The last time we were here they were out of them so she was really hoping they had them and they did! What a pain in the neck to carry around all night though very awkward shape and didnt quite fit all the way in the bag.
It was around 8:00 now so I called my parents to find out where they were. They were almost all the way around World Showcase and were going to try and find a spot for Illuminations soon. I told them I was going to get Sam a snack and then try to find them.
On the way to the McDonalds stand, I passed Puerto Rico and just had to get a frozen Mojito which my good friend Sara (mom2mek) highly recommended. It was very tasty but super tiny.
Then, yes Samantha got an order of french fries from McDonalds while at the F&WF.
We met my parents in their spot for Illuminations. It was near one of the boat launches and there was hardly anyone there yet. It got to be very crowded there as the time got closer. While we waited my dad went to get us some sweets Sam had a cookie and I had a chocolate covered banana yum!
We were so excited to see Illuminations as none of us had seen it before. And it did not disappoint! What a great show. We had a bit of an obstructed view though with the canopy for the walkway leading to the boat. Next time we will have to try and find a better spot. We couldnt see all of the fountains but the music and fireworks were fantastic! I dont know what took us so long to see this show!
After Illuminations we decided to use our last three fast passes for Test Track. This time my dad, Sam and I rode together and had a great time.
We headed out with the masses and took the crowded bus back to POP. We had a great evening and were excited for our next day Hollywood Studios!
Here are some pictures we took as we entered Epcot:
We decided to split up next. My parents wanted to see the StormStruck in Innoventions and Sam and I had some characters to meet! The line was about a 30 minute wait for the characters but we wanted to wait anyway. We had a lot of fun meeting the characters and my parents enjoyed StormStruck.
I love Sam's face in this one:
Sam gets a kick out of the characters that sign on their noses:
We had three Test Track fast passes so we got three more and sent Sam with my parents to ride. My dad loves this ride as does Sam my Mom, not so much!
Dad, Mom and Sam on Test Track:
Finally it was time for some Food and Wine Festival! We decided to split up and meet up for Illuminations later. I knew my parents would probably want to do more sampling than Sam would and we had some shopping to do along with our sampling.
My parents walked all around World Showcase and enjoyed their time. This was my dads first F&WF and he is a cooking enthusiast so I knew hed enjoy it. It was a bit crowded probably because it was a Friday night. They sampled from Greece: Spanakopita and Greek Salad, America: New England Lobster Roll and Canada: Cheddar Cheese Soup and Moosehead Beer (for Dad). Im sure they tried some other things too but I cant remember. They also stopped to listen to whoever was playing in the America Gardens Theater that night.
Sam and I started in Mexico to ride one of our favorites Gran Fiesta Tour with the Three Caballeros. Sam and I both enjoy the Mexican pavilion and spent some time looking around.
We stopped at the India booth when I noticed they had Mango Mousse. Sam is not an adventurous eater at all but I knew she loved mango and wanted her to try something from the F&WF. We paid and then went to collect the mousse and the lady behind the counter asked Samantha if she wanted to be an honorary chef for the night! She took Sam behind the counter and gave her a chef hat and let her stand back there for a few minutes. Then they gave her an extra mousse when we left. She thought that was really cool! She ate the mousse but only liked the top part with the actual mangos in it.
Next up was China. I had promised her one of those stupid puppets the last time we were here so I was there to make good. She picked out a small panda one. We were trying to get it untangled before paying and then the lady behind the counter pulled a prepackaged one out from somewhere. I guess they dont actually sell the messed up ones on display thank goodness! I think the panda is still in the package and Sam hasnt even opened it!
I was hungry and the China options sounded good to me. I couldnt decide what to get but ended up with the Chicken Sha Cha which was fabulous!
We wondered our way around the world taking in the sites and seeing if anything else appealed to us. Some of the booths were so crowded that we didnt even try to get up close.
There was something in Ireland that sounded good to me some kind of potato pancake thing. I didnt like it at all though and ended up throwing it away.
Morocco was next. Sam had bought an instrument here last year that my dog Gomer ate. So, I had promised her Id replace it. The last time we were here they were out of them so she was really hoping they had them and they did! What a pain in the neck to carry around all night though very awkward shape and didnt quite fit all the way in the bag.
It was around 8:00 now so I called my parents to find out where they were. They were almost all the way around World Showcase and were going to try and find a spot for Illuminations soon. I told them I was going to get Sam a snack and then try to find them.
On the way to the McDonalds stand, I passed Puerto Rico and just had to get a frozen Mojito which my good friend Sara (mom2mek) highly recommended. It was very tasty but super tiny.
Then, yes Samantha got an order of french fries from McDonalds while at the F&WF.
We met my parents in their spot for Illuminations. It was near one of the boat launches and there was hardly anyone there yet. It got to be very crowded there as the time got closer. While we waited my dad went to get us some sweets Sam had a cookie and I had a chocolate covered banana yum!
We were so excited to see Illuminations as none of us had seen it before. And it did not disappoint! What a great show. We had a bit of an obstructed view though with the canopy for the walkway leading to the boat. Next time we will have to try and find a better spot. We couldnt see all of the fountains but the music and fireworks were fantastic! I dont know what took us so long to see this show!
After Illuminations we decided to use our last three fast passes for Test Track. This time my dad, Sam and I rode together and had a great time.
We headed out with the masses and took the crowded bus back to POP. We had a great evening and were excited for our next day Hollywood Studios!
That was a great picture of your dad! What a good sport. Poor Sam. It's hard to ride things when you have no idea what's going to happen! I haven't done the green side, but I'm sure it's pretty tame compared to the orange!
)
. Yay
for Samantha getting to be and honorary Chef, too bad she didn't like the Mango Mousse. So glad you finally saw Illuminations! So did you love it or did you think it was okay?? I love the pics of you and Samantha and characters in Future World. The sleep mask ones crack me up too 
so cute. Kaylee picked one out in Justice last week.
We just didnn't get to the F&W fest when we were there in Oct. We will definately get there next year. Have you ever done Epcot's garden fest in the spring? Can't wait for it! 
Was Sam ok with you going on the girl's trip? 
Sam thought the chef thing was really cool. We ended up leaving her hat in the room at POP though - she wasn't too happy when we got home and she realized it. Oops! 
and definately not Disney. I guess even though our kids go often they wouls still feel upset if we went without them. You and Samantha are going again very soon though 
.
Whoever that someone is.....better get those pics into Photobucket, or else.... LOL!! 
I don't even have my October pics all uploaded! 
LMK if you change your mind. $12.50 wouldn't be bad at all for those.
