December in Disney World - Part 6

**faline** · 12-26-2015, 03:32 PM

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Plan for the Day:
Epcot
Three fastpasses
Dinner at Spice Road followed by the 8:15 Candlelight Processional

This was a rather long and tiring day. When we arrived at Epcot, World Showcase had not yet opened so we headed to Living with the Land and rode that. By time we walked over to World Showcase from this location, it was open and we could wander freely. We headed directly to Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar, pausing only long enough to wander through the Germany pavilion, and arriving just as they opened their doors. We were seated at a couch with a low table (Funny, we didn't remember seeing these before). I had a coffee martini and Gene had a beer. We each ordered meatball sliders - so good - but I couldn't finish both of mine.

As we exited, the flag throwers were just beginning their show so we stopped to watch them. We got to the American Pavilion in time to hear some of the Voices of Liberty and then trooped upstairs for the show which we had not attended in quite some time. I was quite proud of myself for not falling asleep - there is something about this show - the darkened theater, the soft melody, that just speaks sleep!!

We continue along, wandering through shops and giving the new exhibit in Japan a look-see. As we neared the United Kingdom pavilion, I could see an empty table out in front of the pub. I figured there was no way that table would still be unoccupied by time we got there but it was so we sat down. Gene went inside to get beer for both of us. While we were enjoying our beers, another couple asked if they could take a couple of the chairs - they would not have had a table to sit at so Gene invited them to share our table.

We had a lovely chat with this couple who live in Florida. The husband is retired military and works in a business that is closely aligned with what Gene does so they had a lengthy conversation. They had come in for the day with plans to park at Hollywood Studios, use a fastpass at Toy Story Mania, hop over to Epcot to purchase a holiday gift, and then return to Hollywood Studios for the Osborn lights. Well, once they had arrived at Hollywood Studios, they were denied admittance to the parking lot there - being told it was full and they would need to go to Epcot to park. They, therefore, forfeited their Toy Story Mania fastpass due to the detour.

As we took our leave of them, we continued our touring of the countries. There was a breeze picking up and I was concerned I might be a bit cool during the evening. That morning, I had decided not to bring my fleece with me, deciding I'd buy a new hoodie if I felt I needed one. So now we were on a hunt for a hoodie. I saw one I liked at the Gateway but it didn't seem to fit (guess I should have tried on another). We then visited several shops, including Mouse Gears, but ultimately returned to the Gateway shop and found that trying on a different hoodie worked just fine so I bought it. (By the way, I did not have much success with the Disney shopping app. Every time I scanned a product, I got a message telling me the product was not found. I had a little bit more success searching or a product on the app, selecting the one I wanted and having the app tell me where to find the product).

Around this time, our fastpass for Soarin opened up (I had already let two other fastpasses for the day go by without using them and had moved the Soarin one from earlier in the morning until late afternoon). Neither one of us felt like walking back to the ride location and then returning to World Showcase for our scheduled dinner reservation so we let that one go by as well.

So, we made our way to Spice Road Table - a new location for us - for our dinner reservation. This will be part of the Candlelight Processional package. This is a nice location. The items included with the package was far, far, too much food for us. We each received an appetizer so ordered the hummus with olives and the calamari. These two appetizer dishes alone would have been enough for a complete meal!! We didn't finish either but, by time our dinner came, we were full enough that we didn't finish that either!! I ordered the chicken which was quite good but far too much to eat at this point. Gene had the skewers which included both beef and chicken. He didn't care for the chicken (but, then again, chicken is not a favorite food of his) but did like the beef. Although it was included with our package, we both bowed out of having dessert even though our server offered to pack up some baklavas for us to take with us.

Although there was to be little to no chance of rain on this day, we noted that it had started to rain mid-way through our meal. When we left the restaurant, everything was wet outside but there was only a bit of a drizzle. We were slated for the 8:15 show and the show before us was currently being seated but the line for the 8:15 show had already begun so we joined it. The rain seemed to be gearing up to start again so Gene ran into the shop in Japan and bought yet another umbrella - I wonder how many we own at this point??!!! We did use it briefly but then the rain stopped and we waited comfortably during the remainder of the current show. While waiting, we had another pleasant conversation with the folks in line. The couple in front of us is from the same state we are from. Time passed very quickly and soon we were allowed into the stadium. Because we had gotten on line quite early, we were able to select a seat under the covered area. This turned out to be quite fortuitous as mid-way through the show, we became aware that it had begun to rain again - quite hard - which would have soaked all the folks who were not fortunate enough to be under the roof.

The Processional itself was as lovely as ever and our narrator, Meredith Viera, did a wonderful job with her narration. The choir and the orchestra were both spectacular. We thoroughly enjoyed it though I was a bit nostalgic for the longer show they used to do. As we exited, it was still drizzling and Illuminations was slated to begin in about 15 minutes. This would have been an excellent night to stay and watch the show as the rain must have driven many away. We walked by a number of excellent viewing locations on our way out of the park.

When we arrived at our bus stop, we only waited a few minutes before a bus pulled in. There were only a few of us on board and our driver did not wait for the post-Illuminations crowd to exit the park but drove us home. He even stopped at Hospitality House as his first stop for us!! How lovely!!

Very tired but happy, I take a tubby and head to bed!!!