The Tale of the Grow Walk .Hunh?

[jenseib]

Our next Fastpass Plus was now up. Let’s just say the choices at Epcot suck. I mean besides Test Track and Soarin’…we really don’t have other must dos that need a FP.
Claire loves Figment, so I chose that as one. Rumors were floating around for a while that they were going to close Figment, so I thought it best we were sure to get on it. I have now heard it will be staying for the time being…at least.

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I had to take a picture of this….Skip’s real name is Dean…and I could use a Dean finder at times. He likes to disappear….and did it a lot while we were cruising.

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Once we got off we played around with a few of the games in there.

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And of course, Claire talked me into letting her buy a stuffie. I really agreed because I would’ve felt awful if this did close and she didn’t have the chance to get one again. She was all smiles about that.

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[jenseib]

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Of course, while in Disney, you will see a duck or 2 and I usually have to get a shot here and there of them.

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One of my favorite things about going in March is all the beautiful landscaping.

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And one of the best things about Florida…..Palm Trees!

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We then headed back to the Seas. Our next FP+ was for Turtle Talk with Crush….let me tell you now, total waste of a FP. It does not get you in any faster at all.

We were early so we explored the area a little more.

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We have never watched the manatees before this year and it was kind of interesting to watch them.

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The lady kept throwing these heads of lettuce to them, but they didn’t seem all that interested for the most part, and when they were interested, it was only the fresh ones, the old ones were not eaten at all.


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And they were feeling frisky today. So many adults were laughing…..Claire said “Awwww! Look they are hugging”.

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We moved on to look at the other fish.

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Hello Mr. Stingray.

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He looks happy to see us.

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I believe we then headed in to the turtle talk waiting area. Of course there is no distinction between those with FP’s and those just coming in to watch. We all could enter and waited in the same area.

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We were very early, so we played the quiz.

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And as it got fuller we went and lined up a little closer.

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[DWGal210]

Love the pictures, as usual! You do a great job.

Glad to hear Claire enjoyed Tiana and Naveen after all. Yes, mother DOES know best!

You softie, letting Claire get that cute Figment!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Man, what I wouldn't give for a good Disney World pretzel with cheese right now. Why oh why do I always look at food pictures before lunch time?

I have never seen Tiana and Naveen at Epcot. Pretty cool that you two did.

So, if you get Fastpasses for Turtle Talk with Crush what do you do? Just stand in the same line and sit in the same place as everybody else does? That's dumb.

 

[ddstratton]

Joining in! I had been away from the DIS for a little while, and missed a couple of your reports, but I'm here for this one! Loving it so far, even with the troubles with rental cars and fast passes. I'm really wanting some strawberry shortcake now, after seeing your picture.

 

[dolphingirl47]

What a stroke of luck that you managed to catch Tiana and Naveen. I have seen Tiana many a time, but never met Naveen.

I think Mr Stingray is actually a Mrs. It is hard to see the size in a photo, but if this was the biggest stingray in the tank then that was Beaker, who is a female. I had the most amazing experience with Beaker. I have a bit of a stingray phobia. When we did The Seas Aqua Tour, I nearly swam into her trying to avoid a turtle. She then swam underneath me for quite some time turning whenever I turned. She stayed far enough down that her being there did not freak me out, but close enough to me that I got a really good look at her.

I am glad that Claire got a Figment soft toy. I love Figment and I am glad that the rumours of this closing have so far proven to be inaccurate.

It is good to know that there is no advantage to having a Fastpass for Turtle Talk with Crush.

Corinna

 

[FancyNancy]

I don't think I've ever seen Tiana and Naveen out in Epcot. That's so cool!

Also that stingray pic is so cute. They have the goofiest little faces.

 

[jenseib]

Love the pictures, as usual! You do a great job.

Glad to hear Claire enjoyed Tiana and Naveen after all. Yes, mother DOES know best!

You softie, letting Claire get that cute Figment!

Thanks!
Sometimes I just have to force her do stuff...most times it works out...sometimes it doesn't.

Man, what I wouldn't give for a good Disney World pretzel with cheese right now. Why oh why do I always look at food pictures before lunch time?

I have never seen Tiana and Naveen at Epcot. Pretty cool that you two did.

So, if you get Fastpasses for Turtle Talk with Crush what do you do? Just stand in the same line and sit in the same place as everybody else does? That's dumb.

I know I was hungry when I was proof reading it too!
I have never seen them in Epcot either and it was kind of neat seeing them walk right towards us.
You are right. No advantage at all. I might have been let in slightly earlier, but then I was just in the room roaming around like everyone else. We lined up like anyone else did and sat where ever we wanted to.

Joining in! I had been away from the DIS for a little while, and missed a couple of your reports, but I'm here for this one! Loving it so far, even with the troubles with rental cars and fast passes. I'm really wanting some strawberry shortcake now, after seeing your picture.

Welcome back to Dis then!
Sometimes the troubles just add to the story....and some things we can laugh about later on.

 

[jenseib]

What a stroke of luck that you managed to catch Tiana and Naveen. I have seen Tiana many a time, but never met Naveen.

I think Mr Stingray is actually a Mrs. It is hard to see the size in a photo, but if this was the biggest stingray in the tank then that was Beaker, who is a female. I had the most amazing experience with Beaker. I have a bit of a stingray phobia. When we did The Seas Aqua Tour, I nearly swam into her trying to avoid a turtle. She then swam underneath me for quite some time turning whenever I turned. She stayed far enough down that her being there did not freak me out, but close enough to me that I got a really good look at her.

I am glad that Claire got a Figment soft toy. I love Figment and I am glad that the rumours of this closing have so far proven to be inaccurate.

It is good to know that there is no advantage to having a Fastpass for Turtle Talk with Crush.

Corinna

We have seen him at MK before, but I have never seen either of them at Epcot, so I was shocked.
I am not sure if he/she was the biggest one in there or not...I am thinking it wasn't, but I can't be sure.
Claire loves the Figment ride. She cried when I told her it might be closing.
Yes, don't wast a FP+ on Turtle talk at all!

I don't think I've ever seen Tiana and Naveen out in Epcot. That's so cool!

Also that stingray pic is so cute. They have the goofiest little faces.

I haven't either. I wondered since it was so busy if they brought out more characters to meet with.
I thought that was a funny picture too.

 

[petals]

We stopped off in the gift area and I looked at a few shirts and Claire tried to convince me she needed another stuffy and I told her no she didn’t.

You can never have to many stuffy's!

Lol at the manatees being "frisky" the last two years we went to Seaworld one of their male Beluga's was looking for a friend to eh play with?!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

wow - I didn't know Tianna and Naveen ever met in EPCOT - that's pretty cool! They are a great meet & greet

I definitely think the fact you have to pick 3 FP+ is annoying - I guess the idea is to force people towards other attractions to thin the line at the popular ones, but it's annoying to have to pick things not because you are excited to ride them but because you have to.

yeah for Figment stuffie!

 

[jenseib]

You can never have to many stuffy's!

Lol at the manatees being "frisky" the last two years we went to Seaworld one of their male Beluga's was looking for a friend to eh play with?!

wow - I didn't know Tianna and Naveen ever met in EPCOT - that's pretty cool! They are a great meet & greet

I definitely think the fact you have to pick 3 FP+ is annoying - I guess the idea is to force people towards other attractions to thin the line at the popular ones, but it's annoying to have to pick things not because you are excited to ride them but because you have to.

yeah for Figment stuffie!

I agree. I really do not like having to figure out every step like this 60 days before going. It definitely put a damper on our particular touring style.

 

[KatMark]

Great picture of the stingray!

I love when kids want "cheese" and then proceed to eat their food without it.

I don't think I have ever seen Tiana and Naveen at Epcot either; the only place I've seen them is the MK. Great pictures and glad Claire ended up enjoying herself.

You have to have a Figment stuffie.

Sorry the Turtle Talk with Crush FP+ was a waste. You are right...not much at Epcot to use your FP+ on.

 

[cas714]

Following Along

 

[mom2rtk]

LOL on the hoochie mama shorts. I think you look fine.

Your dark shots on the Nemo rides are outstanding. I have trouble in there even with a faster lens. And I have been watching the exif data on your shots. Your 3200 ISO is very good, especially for shooting Jpeg with no additional noise reduction!

Loving all the topiary shots. Some day I'll bet there for F&G. Probably not until Katie is out of school, but some day. Sigh.

I STILL have to put Katie off of "another stuffy" when we go places. But we just went through a bunch of stuff in her room and donated a huge bag of stuffies. She tried asking for one on our Utah trip. And we had JUST donated that bag full! Honestly though, if they had Figment stuffies there...... I'm pretty sure we would have come home with one.........

The Tiana/Naveen shots are awesome! I love the composition with the flowers and monorail in the background. How is it that I never even noticed his shoes before???????? So glad you got a shot of them! And too funny about the spot. I thought that sort of thing only happened to us........

 

[jenseib]

Great picture of the stingray!

I love when kids want "cheese" and then proceed to eat their food without it.

I don't think I have ever seen Tiana and Naveen at Epcot either; the only place I've seen them is the MK. Great pictures and glad Claire ended up enjoying herself.

You have to have a Figment stuffie.

Sorry the Turtle Talk with Crush FP+ was a waste. You are right...not much at Epcot to use your FP+ on.

I have never seen them there either. I am thinking because the parks were so buys that week it was an extra treat!
I swear I would've made her drink that cheese if I had too.

Following Along

Welcome to Dis! Thanks for joining in!

LOL on the hoochie mama shorts. I think you look fine.

I really need to lose some weight before my next adventures so I am not such a hoochi mama!

Your dark shots on the Nemo rides are outstanding. I have trouble in there even with a faster lens. And I have been watching the exif data on your shots. Your 3200 ISO is very good, especially for shooting Jpeg with no additional noise reduction!

Thanks. I do use a noise reduction in photoshop, but it's not very good at all and I can only do so much to it. you are probably understanding my exif data better than me.

Loving all the topiary shots. Some day I'll bet there for F&G. Probably not until Katie is out of school, but some day. Sigh.

It is such a pretty time to go.

I STILL have to put Katie off of "another stuffy" when we go places. But we just went through a bunch of stuff in her room and donated a huge bag of stuffies. She tried asking for one on our Utah trip. And we had JUST donated that bag full! Honestly though, if they had Figment stuffies there...... I'm pretty sure we would have come home with one.........

WE have bags of them, but Claire looks to be sure they are in storage every so often....God forbid I would donate them somewhere!!

The Tiana/Naveen shots are awesome! I love the composition with the flowers and monorail in the background. How is it that I never even noticed his shoes before???????? So glad you got a shot of them! And too funny about the spot. I thought that sort of thing only happened to us........

It was such a weird thing to see them there and then they moved around a couple of times to try to get the sun out of the eyes...but actually it was not any better at this angle.

 

[jenseib]

We were finally let in and Claire informed me she would not be sitting on the floor with the little kids, so we found a bench and had a seat.

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It was a fun show, but I have seen it enough now that it doesn’t have to be a must do for me anymore…and I think I’ll skip it in the future unless Claire insists on it.

We headed back out into the sun…..and yes it was VERY hot this day.

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It was approaching our lunch time so we headed towards Italy.

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I always love seeing these sand sculptures and wonder how they keep them looking so nice.

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Obviously the birds don’t care if they walk in it.

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I took pictures along the way. I love all the topiaries.

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An Alice Spotting.

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Isn’t Rabbit so cute?

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[ddstratton]

Nice pictures on your walk around the World Showcase. I love looking at other people's pictures at Disney - I get to see all kinds of things I haven't before. We've not been there when they've had the sand sculptures, for example. Love 'em!

 

[KelleyK75]

Great update and pictures as always. How fun meeting both Tiana and Naveen. Claire looks like she enjoyed it in the end. Your day at Epcot looks a lot like ours, with Nemo, Turtle Talk, and your walk around World Showcase. I have many pictures similar to yours of the topiarys and buildings.

 

[BellaBaby]

I hear you on the bags of stuffies! Everytime we go anywhere that sells them my younger two beg for them. My DH always says they can just come home and go down to the basement and pick one from the bag for free!! And then we proceed to buy them one….

I love the F & G also. We used to be able to go at that time but then my oldest entered the upper grades and that went out the window.

Anyway, I just booked a last minute trip to WDW for 8/27-8/31, adults only. It's for our 15th wedding anniv. and my DSIL's 25th anniv. They've been booked for awhile for 9 days and wanted us to go, but we said no cuz we just were in DL at the beginning of June. Well, I ended up finding cheap airfare and one thing led to another…. We are trying out Coronado Springs Resort and I booked our FP+, which went OK, but I did have a few glitches with 2 of the days it wouldn't let me book at Epcot, but would at MK. I did get it all worked out tho. I am a planner, but ITA, I don't care for booking FP so far in advance. Also, I really hope we don't have any glitches while on the trip!!

Speaking of sitting on the floor at Crush, we were saying we are going to miss the kids while there (never been there w/o them before). Anyway, my DH said he would sit on the floor and Crush can call on the "young" man with the baseball cap.

I know, it doesn't take much to amuse us!