Sunday, November 15

FL trip day 9: The last day at Epcot and MK

Too soon, we reached our last day at the parks. We packed in as much as we could -- it sure was fun!

We Disneybounded for the second time: Jillian as Merida, and me as Alice. Everyone oohed and ahhed over Jillian's Merida hair -- even the characters said she looked like Merida. Sadly, nobody really understood my Alice Disneybound, but if I wanted to, it would be easy to transform into a Smee costume in the future. Haha!

We started the day at Epcot and rode on Soarin' Over California before heading out the other side of the park towards the lake-side Disney hotels. We toured a Disney Villa condo (I wish I could afford one!). Then we played a round of mini-golf at Fantasia Gardens. Jillian had consistent strokes, and I was all over the map, either getting 5 strokes per hole or holes in one. By sheer luck, I won by one point. Mazel tov!
We took a scenic route back to the park, even stopping on a stretch of beach to enjoy the view of a lighthouse and put our toes in the sand.



Then we got down to the business of photos with characters and eating our way through the rest of the Food and Wine Festival on its second-to-last day.
Alice in England
Jasmine and Aladdin in Morocco
Mulan in China

We stopped to watch these acrobats both days in Epcot. Their routines were truly amazing. They are so graceful and strong -- I cannot imagine how dedicated and focused they must be.
Donald Duck in Mexico

Jillian requested that one of the official photographers take some photos of us eating. The photographer thought this was funny. I obviously didn't realize I was supposed to look glamourous. To be fair, this is the sweetcorn cheesecake, so nothing and nobody was going to stop me shoving it into my cakehole.
Mexican food will always be my favorite
Snow White in Germany
Snow White couldn't stop talking about gooseberry pie.
t was captivated by the different textures in her skirt, bodice, and cape.
Belle in France.
She remembered Jillian from when Jillian played Madam de la Grande Bouche at Enchanted Tales.
It's truly a small world after all!

We ate this food over the course of about six hours, usually while in line for a character. And the portions were small. And I'd do it all over again. I love good food:
  • Africa: buttered chicken with naan
  • Belgium: belgium waffle with berry compote and whipped cream
  • China: chicken pot stickers
  • Farm Fresh
    • loaded mac'n'cheese with bacon and peppers
    • yard bird (chicken) with braised greens
  • Fife and Drum tavern: Ghirardelli ice cream sundae (not as good as the one in Disney Springs)
  • Germany: apple strudel with vanilla sauce
  • Hops and Barley: carrot cake with raisins and cream cheese icing
  • Mexico
    • chilaquiles de pollo: corn chips layered with seasoned chicken, quest fresco, sour cream and cilantro
    • pastel de elote con queso: sweet corn cheesecake. Of COURSE I needed a second one!
  • Patagonia: beef empanada
  • South Korea:  barbecue short rib with steamed rice and cucumber kimchi

Was this all the food? I don't even know anymore!

Before leaving Epcot, we asked for one last photo in front of Spaceship Earth. We needed one in our Disneybounding poses.
"Curiouser" and "Brave"
We then dashed over to Disneyland to see if we could crash the Christmas party long enough to watch the castle light up. We did a lot of security dodging, but managed to stay about an hour and a half, enjoying the lights and the fake snow and the happy Christmas music. Disney does Christmas wonderfully!

After we reluctantly (and hastily) scampered, we headed to Disney Springs for a last chance to shop. That's when I made an impulse purchase:

I have a book of stories that include a Cinderella with these illustrations. I've always loved them, and I particularly love this print of Cinderella, working alone and smiling. She chooses to be happy even though her life isn't perfect. I chose to purchase it to keep as a reminder.

I was horrified when I started packing and realized the print wouldn't fit in my luggage. Fortunately, Jillian figured out a way to combine the package with my carry-on. Woo-hoo!

Day 6: Typhoon Lagoon and Food and Wine
Day 7: Disneybounding at MK
Day 10: Characters and hotels
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , ,

Saturday, November 14

FL trip day 8: DAK and Studios part 2

We couldn't believe that it had been a whole week since the last time we went to Disney Animal Kingdom. This was the day we wanted to see all the shows!

Fun things we did:
  • Kilimanjaro Safari. We saw elephants, lions, giraffes, zebras, flamingos, wildebeests, baboons, and crocodiles
  • Festival of the Lion King. Fun "interpretation" of the story, rather than try to create Broadway's version of the Lion King. I loved the monkeys who did acrobatics during "Hakuna Matata." And did you know that giraffes bleat similar to goats? Now you do!
  • Finding Nemo the Musical. This movie should have ALWAYS been a musical. Everything about it, from the music to the puppets to the costumes, was gorgeous.
  • Expedition Everest (single rider is still the way to go)
  • Rafiki's planet watch with the lizards and bugs

Tip #13 Do the Safari first or last thing

If you do not have a fast pass for the Safari, the line gets really long. So go first thing to try to avoid the line, if you can. I also heard that it's cool to go in the evening just before the park closes, because it isn't as warm the animals are more active.



Tarzan had no concept of personal space and it was disconcerting and perfect. He walked around behind me and noticed that I had "spears" (safety pins) in my shirt, and we talked about "warrior women" Black Widow (on my shirt) and Jane Porter. I liked that he was muscular but not bulky -- Tarzan isn't a lifter, he's just incredibly fit and active!

Oddly, Tarzan did not have a designated photographer. All of the other characters did. I'm glad the photos on my phone turned out so well, especially because we were crunched for time and his photo spot was difficult to find.

Side note: I bought these shorts at Deseret Industries a few days before the trip. I'm glad I did, because it was too hot to wear long pants during the day. Plus, don't my legs look great? (Let's ignore the shapeless shirt, shall we?)

Sheesh. My hair is enormous!

We got to a point where we were a little tired of smiling in all the photos -- haha!

Tip #14 Don't miss the shows!

Jillian commented that often when she goes to Walt Disney World, her group focuses on the rides. They miss out on the shows and the restaurants. I can understand that if your trip is only a few days. But it was nice to have options to keep us busy and offer us some variety. People asked if there was enough to occupy us for 9 days. There absolutely was. It would have been tragic to miss out on productions like The Festival of the Lion King, or the Stunt Show Spectacular, or the Indiana Jones Stunt Show -- they were cool and totally unique. No wonder they max out almost every performance (and those stadiums are huge)!

We hustled our way to Studios and made it to the Stunt Show Specular just as it started. Our seats weren't even half bad. The show is being retired to make way for Star Wars Land and AvatarLand, so we didn't want to miss it. (This was when we found out that cast members WILL yell at you if you try to run in the parks. I can understand why -- there are so many people that running will inevitably lead to injuries -- but I loathe being yelled at. Oops!)
Do you watch Once Upon a Time? I couldn't resist a photo in front of Mr. Gold's shop. The detail of the items in the window was glorious, including Rumple's dagger and the unicorn mobile.


Other fun shows:
  • Beauty and the Beast show
  • Indiana Jones stunt show
  • Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Kind of terrible. I'll likely skip this in the future, unless I have a daughter who begs to see it, in which case I'll let my husband skip it
  • MuppetVision 3D. Also being retired, and is no longer at Disneyland, so Jillian and I wanted to see it one last time. It's so cute - I'm sad to see it go!

The Tower of Terror is one of my favorites, so we had to do it again.


And of course I needed one last ride on the Rock 'N' Roller Coaster. Hooray for riding the two best coasters in the same day, again!



Day 6: Typhoon Lagoon and Food and Wine
Day 7: Disneybounding at MK
Day 9: Last day at Epcot and MK
Day 10: Characters and hotels
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,

Friday, November 13

FL trip day 7: Disneybounding at MK and Studios

Sometimes, when you're at Walt Disney World for ten days, you decide you can dedicate an entire day to having photos taken with characters. That's what we did our last full day at Magic Kingdom

We rode a few rides, too, but it was mostly all about the characters.

Tip #11 Disneybound (dressing up)

The idea behind Disneybounding is you dress in similar colors and pieces to a Disney character, but you aren't necessarily in costume. Jillian and I cheated a bit with her headpiece and my tiara, but our outfits were legit.

Her Maleficent was a huge hit.
I am always up for wearing a tiara!

All ways are MY ways!
We didn't get wet on Splash Mountain.
I still think it hilarious we had no problem with Kali River Rapids or Splash Mountain and were drenched on Pirates of the Caribbean.
Aurora balked when Jillian asked her to cower.
Too bad, 'cause that photo would have been funny.
This dress is amazing -- so flowy!
We had lunch at Be Our Guest and sat in the ballroom this time. For dessert, I tried the chocolate cupcake with "grey stuff" frosting, and it was delicious! If you're wondering what it tastes like, Jillian says it's like oreos, and I agree.



Gaston was excellent. When we walked up, he immediately put his arms around us. We then proceeded to talk for about five minutes. He didn't seem to be in any hurry, and there were a lot of people waiting behind us, so finally Jillian asked if we could take a photo. We like to think he wouldn't have minded standing there like that all day.
Me: Have you killed anything today?
Gaston: Why would I?
Me: Why wouldn't you?
Gaston: Good point.
These women were possibly my favorite of the day. Drizella is friends with someone who is friends with Jillian, so they had fun playing together. Anastasia and I talked about curly hair and the color pink. Truly good times.

Peter Pan was kind of ADD -- this was the only time he stood still. We played follow the leader and musical chairs (with no chairs). He was utterly charming.
According to Peter: I lost Wendy -- on purpose... She drools and snores!
Rapunzel loved my shoes
Adorable and so fun
Admiring Cinderella's shoes.
She said they were a gift from her Fairy Godmother.
I was a little disappointed by Cinderella. She is my favorite Disney princess, so I was annoyed that she spoke so quietly I could barely hear her, and she didn't let me talk to the prince at all. I will say that she and Prince Charming were darling in their quiet moments alone together. I liked watching them. They had a very sweet chemistry.

Tip #12 Line up early for character meet-and-greets

The characters are only out for a certain amount of time before they take a break. The attendants let the lines get to a predetermined length, then they close it off. So it's smart to get in line before the characters come, especially the popular ones like Gaston or Peter Pan, or rare ones like Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters. It's a good idea to show up to the line at least 10 minutes before the characters are scheduled. The line fills up quickly ones the character appears. The good news is they make sure to take their time with each guest and will make the wait worth it. (I was about the end that sentence with "especially for little kids" but they made an effort with Jillian and me, too.)

Other fun things:
  • Tomorrowland Speedway... well, I didn't enjoy this one, so maybe it was less than fun
  • Space Mountain and People Mover again
  • Small World
  • Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

When MK closed for the Very Merry Christmas Party (we didn't have tickets for), we took a bus to Epcot. We rode Star Tours and found our friend Brandon who was in town with his family. The three of us saw most of Fantasmic, then took a ferry to Epcot and the Boardwalk hotel for a snack. At that point, I hadn't eaten in about 8 hours and I was STARVING!! Hanger is real, kids. I should have packed an extra PBJ. Lesson learned. A chocolate croissant has never tasted so good.

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Thursday, November 12

FL trip day 6: Typhoon Lagoon and The Food and Wine Festival

With Aaron and Andrew returned home, Jillian had a brilliant idea: Let's take a day off from the main parks. Since it was going to be the warmest day of our trip -- over 90 degrees -- she suggested a water park.

Tip #10 The water parks are great

I cannot tell you how relaxing our day at Typhoon Lagoon was. We floated and bobbed in the wave pool and lazy river, snorkeled with sharks and rays, rode body slides and tube rides, and didn't worry about our hair or makeup or photos in general. I tried to keep sunscreen on, but when you're in the water all day in Florida and your skin is not used to the sun, your nose and neck get burned. It could have been worse. I'd do it again.











Tiny donuts for a late lunch
We left the park a little early (it closed at 4:30) and ran into some horrid luck. We spent about two hours on a bus trying to get back to Disney Springs and our hotel. What with wearing wet swimsuits, having forgotten towels, and the air-conditioning on the bus, we were frozen by the time we got home.

And yet, through the power of awesomeness we possess, we got cleaned up enough to be ready for the next bus to Epcot scheduled for 30 minutes later. Boom!

The plan was to eat our way through the Food and Wine Festival. We figured the small plates each wouldn't be too filling and we could share things. We were so naive. Good thing neither of us drink because even sober we exercised no self-control. Two hours later at park closing, we were stuffed and had only made it halfway through. It was a no-brainer we'd return another day.  
Foods we tried:
  • Hawaii: pork sliders
  • Wine: cheese plate
    • cheddar with honey
    • bleu with blueberries
    • goat with cranberry crackers
  • Dominican Republic: roasted pork with mango, picked red onion and avocado
  • Cheese: pana cotta
  • Canada: cheese soup and filet mignon with truffle sauce
  • France: chocolate and vanilla creme brule
  • Brazil: cheese bread



We stayed to watch The American Adventure program in the America building. I'm sad to say I slept through a lot of it. The sunny day, wonderful food, and dark theater took its toll.

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)