GrandCalifornian
Can't Wait To Go Back
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2012
- Messages
- 3,778
Our next morning was super lazy. We were headed to Epcot for the day and they didn't open until 11 so we were in no hurry to get out the door.
I let Allie sleep until she woke up and made coffee in the room. The disposable coffee cups were so cute with little embossed Mickey heads.
Those cups are cool, I saw the picture and was wondering where it was from.
I wish I could order them for home and work.
For breakfast we decided to try ordering take out from Ale and Compass again. It was a really pretty good deal and less crowded than the Marketplace.
When I brought it back to the room to eat we figured out that the little table under the desk would pull out and go over to the couch which was much easier than trying to share the desk.
We ordered Salted Carmel Apple French Toast, Mickey waffles, and a side of sausage. Oh side note with DVC we got a 10% discount there too.
That sounds like a great breakfast option. We may do that in January too.
Yes it was a good option but we weren't that crazy about the french toast but they had other options too.
We eventually just got bored in the room and decided to go on a little adventure.
I like morning explorations.
It wasn't quite as early as your normal ones but I was proud of us. We decided to leave Yacht Club and head to the right toward Boardwalk and walk around the lake toward Epcot. We were looking for a coffee mug for you as I recall.
That must have been a nice morning walk.
It was a nice walk. It wasn't too hot yet and we got to see some stuff I hadn't yet over by the Swan.
We stopped at the giftshop at Boardwalk, it's a pretty big place. The coolest part was the bulk candy. We didn't get any but I could see making kids happy next trip.
I love how resort gift ships are all unique. That is a great idea for the kids.
Next up we checked out the Wyland Gallery.
One of our favorite places to visit at Boardwalk
I enjoy visiting here, and we found some pieces we'd seen at the Festival of the Arts.
After we left the Wyland Gallery we walked across the Boardwalk. I noticed the new icecream shop where Ample Hills was but didn't think much of it. Turns out it either opened that day or the next day. It wasn't open yet though when we went by.
Yeah, that was its opening day, I read about it while you were there.
We continued our trip toward the Epcot entrance but then Paul called and told me we had more paperwork to docusign for the new house so I had to stop and do that. Allie wasn't amused.
Oh well, she likes having the house now...
We made it in the park still before opening even with all of our adventuring. World Showcase was sooo quiet. Everything was closed still but it was nice to enjoy the gardens and the topiaries without the crowds.
That is cool, and something I want to get to experience by staying at an Epcot resort.
Yeah it was really nice. We had heard that the animatronics were back on the Gran Fiesta Tour so that's where we were headed. We were excited to see our friends again.
I’m glad that they were back and you got to see them
Yeah and it's not really a rope drop ride so we just walked on.
That is probably true that people weren’t heading for it at rope drop.
No, not at all. After Mexico we decided to finish the World Showcase loop toward lunch and work on our Spike the Bee sticker quest along the way. We got to see the princesses on the bridge. Allie wouldn't wave but I did.
I am thinking spike the bee is responsible for her recent love for bees.
Oh that's so true! She does have random new obsession for bees.
I just now put that together.
I bet that's where it came from. We stopped at Disney Traders and Port of Entry to check out the festival merch. I decided I wanted a coffee mug but didn't want to carry it so I decided to wait and come back later.
Window shopping is fun when you don’t want to carry something for the rest of the day.
Next up we visited Canada. None of the shops were open though. We did find some shops we'd never seen before though, I'll have to take you up there next trip. Hopefully they'll be open then.
Ahh cool. It is pretty back by the waterfalls.
Yes, have we been back there on the upper level? I didn't remember ever being there.
Upper level? I don’t think we ever have, we just walked to the show. We gotta check that out.
After Canada we went through the tea shop in the UK. I found the cutest shirt for Marshall but didn't buy it. Allie didn't think he'd like Pooh on it.
Ahh, he isn’t too picky but I see her point.
Outside Mary Poppins was chatting with guests. I told Allie she should go talk to her but she got shy. We did go through the tea garden though and found another Spike.
Speaking of chatting, with the easing of mask restrictions was there more interaction with other guests than in February?
YES! For sure, because of the distancing in line we didn't get some of the spontaneous chatting but yes we did talk to more people.
That’s cool.
Contiuing our journey we stopped for a Photopass Picture. We were miraculously perfectly on time for our lunch reservation with just enough time to go through the shops in France.
We never make it to World Showcase ADRs perfectly on time.
I know! I was shocked. I only had one kid to usher though and she was really excited about this reservation.
She has been excited about all things France for a few years now, and this would have been on our list last time but it wasn’t open yet.
First though we went through the one shop and she found a pair of mouse ears she really liked. She thought she might wait and then come back for them but I didn't want to make a trip back to France so we just bought them.
Nice
After that we went to the little shop that's outside Le Halles where she found another pair of mouse ears. She was mad at me for buying the other pair because she liked these ones better but I got to be the super cool mom and let her have both. Spoiled kid.
Ahh, thus the two sets of ears day.
Yes, yes. Now that we had proper headgear we were headed to lunch. Allie was super excited for Chefs De France.
Because of limited restaurant capacity due to distancing they were seating upstairs at Monsiur Paul and we got to sit upstairs by the window. It was pretty cool to have the view while we dined.
I had a deal with Allie on the trip, if she wanted to order an appetizer she had to order her entree from the kids menu to help keep the costs down. For here she decided she HAD to have the escargot so that was her appetizer.
She was excited to get to have it, and she liked it better than we had at Food and Wine a couple of trips ago.
I tried one, it was ok, not as good at Topolino. If you want good escargot go to Topolino. Allie ate it all though.
They also served a baguette with butter. It was odd though, it comes in a paper bag and you don't get a bread knife. That's not too bad but the butter was cold. I would have prefered a nice olive oil or something over cold butter.
But maybe that's more Italian? Either way the cold butter just felt odd.
In a bag, I guess that’s authentic French.
Perhaps. For her entree Allie ordered the kids salmon with mashed potatoes and a cream sauce. She really enjoyed it, especially the sauce.
Pretty nice for a kids meal.
[/B]In a bag, I guess that’s authentic French.
Yeah, I ordered the Boeuf Bourguignon.
It was pretty good but I wasn't blown away. I feel picky but it just wasn't spectacular. I was expecting more.
It’s tough when it just isn’t your thing, or maybe it just wasn’t spectacular.
Yeah not sure what was up. We did order desert though and that was good. We got the Creme Brulee. It's hard to go wrong with a good Creme Brulee.
She has been looking forward to having Creme Brulee again
Yeah I may have to learn how to make it. I want to play with a torch.
Sounds like fun
Chefs ended up being our most expensive meal of the trip. It for sure wasn't our best. Allie really enjoyed it but I don't see lugging the whole group here anytime soon.
I’m glad you guys got to do it, but don’t feel like I missed out on a whole lot. That’s ok, there are plenty of other restaurants to try.
And we will visit another new restaurant for us in the next update...
I let Allie sleep until she woke up and made coffee in the room. The disposable coffee cups were so cute with little embossed Mickey heads.
Those cups are cool, I saw the picture and was wondering where it was from.
I wish I could order them for home and work.
For breakfast we decided to try ordering take out from Ale and Compass again. It was a really pretty good deal and less crowded than the Marketplace.
When I brought it back to the room to eat we figured out that the little table under the desk would pull out and go over to the couch which was much easier than trying to share the desk.
We ordered Salted Carmel Apple French Toast, Mickey waffles, and a side of sausage. Oh side note with DVC we got a 10% discount there too.
That sounds like a great breakfast option. We may do that in January too.
Yes it was a good option but we weren't that crazy about the french toast but they had other options too.
We eventually just got bored in the room and decided to go on a little adventure.
I like morning explorations.
It wasn't quite as early as your normal ones but I was proud of us. We decided to leave Yacht Club and head to the right toward Boardwalk and walk around the lake toward Epcot. We were looking for a coffee mug for you as I recall.
That must have been a nice morning walk.
It was a nice walk. It wasn't too hot yet and we got to see some stuff I hadn't yet over by the Swan.
We stopped at the giftshop at Boardwalk, it's a pretty big place. The coolest part was the bulk candy. We didn't get any but I could see making kids happy next trip.
I love how resort gift ships are all unique. That is a great idea for the kids.
Next up we checked out the Wyland Gallery.
One of our favorite places to visit at Boardwalk
I enjoy visiting here, and we found some pieces we'd seen at the Festival of the Arts.
After we left the Wyland Gallery we walked across the Boardwalk. I noticed the new icecream shop where Ample Hills was but didn't think much of it. Turns out it either opened that day or the next day. It wasn't open yet though when we went by.
Yeah, that was its opening day, I read about it while you were there.
We continued our trip toward the Epcot entrance but then Paul called and told me we had more paperwork to docusign for the new house so I had to stop and do that. Allie wasn't amused.
Oh well, she likes having the house now...
We made it in the park still before opening even with all of our adventuring. World Showcase was sooo quiet. Everything was closed still but it was nice to enjoy the gardens and the topiaries without the crowds.
That is cool, and something I want to get to experience by staying at an Epcot resort.
Yeah it was really nice. We had heard that the animatronics were back on the Gran Fiesta Tour so that's where we were headed. We were excited to see our friends again.
I’m glad that they were back and you got to see them
Yeah and it's not really a rope drop ride so we just walked on.
That is probably true that people weren’t heading for it at rope drop.
No, not at all. After Mexico we decided to finish the World Showcase loop toward lunch and work on our Spike the Bee sticker quest along the way. We got to see the princesses on the bridge. Allie wouldn't wave but I did.
I am thinking spike the bee is responsible for her recent love for bees.
Oh that's so true! She does have random new obsession for bees.
I just now put that together.
I bet that's where it came from. We stopped at Disney Traders and Port of Entry to check out the festival merch. I decided I wanted a coffee mug but didn't want to carry it so I decided to wait and come back later.
Window shopping is fun when you don’t want to carry something for the rest of the day.
Next up we visited Canada. None of the shops were open though. We did find some shops we'd never seen before though, I'll have to take you up there next trip. Hopefully they'll be open then.
Ahh cool. It is pretty back by the waterfalls.
Yes, have we been back there on the upper level? I didn't remember ever being there.
Upper level? I don’t think we ever have, we just walked to the show. We gotta check that out.
After Canada we went through the tea shop in the UK. I found the cutest shirt for Marshall but didn't buy it. Allie didn't think he'd like Pooh on it.
Ahh, he isn’t too picky but I see her point.
Outside Mary Poppins was chatting with guests. I told Allie she should go talk to her but she got shy. We did go through the tea garden though and found another Spike.
Speaking of chatting, with the easing of mask restrictions was there more interaction with other guests than in February?
YES! For sure, because of the distancing in line we didn't get some of the spontaneous chatting but yes we did talk to more people.
That’s cool.
Contiuing our journey we stopped for a Photopass Picture. We were miraculously perfectly on time for our lunch reservation with just enough time to go through the shops in France.
We never make it to World Showcase ADRs perfectly on time.
I know! I was shocked. I only had one kid to usher though and she was really excited about this reservation.
She has been excited about all things France for a few years now, and this would have been on our list last time but it wasn’t open yet.
First though we went through the one shop and she found a pair of mouse ears she really liked. She thought she might wait and then come back for them but I didn't want to make a trip back to France so we just bought them.
Nice
After that we went to the little shop that's outside Le Halles where she found another pair of mouse ears. She was mad at me for buying the other pair because she liked these ones better but I got to be the super cool mom and let her have both. Spoiled kid.
Ahh, thus the two sets of ears day.
Yes, yes. Now that we had proper headgear we were headed to lunch. Allie was super excited for Chefs De France.
Because of limited restaurant capacity due to distancing they were seating upstairs at Monsiur Paul and we got to sit upstairs by the window. It was pretty cool to have the view while we dined.
I had a deal with Allie on the trip, if she wanted to order an appetizer she had to order her entree from the kids menu to help keep the costs down. For here she decided she HAD to have the escargot so that was her appetizer.
She was excited to get to have it, and she liked it better than we had at Food and Wine a couple of trips ago.
I tried one, it was ok, not as good at Topolino. If you want good escargot go to Topolino. Allie ate it all though.
They also served a baguette with butter. It was odd though, it comes in a paper bag and you don't get a bread knife. That's not too bad but the butter was cold. I would have prefered a nice olive oil or something over cold butter.
But maybe that's more Italian? Either way the cold butter just felt odd.
In a bag, I guess that’s authentic French.
Perhaps. For her entree Allie ordered the kids salmon with mashed potatoes and a cream sauce. She really enjoyed it, especially the sauce.
Pretty nice for a kids meal.
[/B]In a bag, I guess that’s authentic French.
Yeah, I ordered the Boeuf Bourguignon.
It was pretty good but I wasn't blown away. I feel picky but it just wasn't spectacular. I was expecting more.
It’s tough when it just isn’t your thing, or maybe it just wasn’t spectacular.
Yeah not sure what was up. We did order desert though and that was good. We got the Creme Brulee. It's hard to go wrong with a good Creme Brulee.
She has been looking forward to having Creme Brulee again
Yeah I may have to learn how to make it. I want to play with a torch.
Sounds like fun
Chefs ended up being our most expensive meal of the trip. It for sure wasn't our best. Allie really enjoyed it but I don't see lugging the whole group here anytime soon.
I’m glad you guys got to do it, but don’t feel like I missed out on a whole lot. That’s ok, there are plenty of other restaurants to try.
And we will visit another new restaurant for us in the next update...